


Feral Teens

by Mystic_Scripture



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Identity Issues, Memory Alteration, Red String of Fate, Supernatural Elements, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:54:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 46,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27742588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystic_Scripture/pseuds/Mystic_Scripture
Summary: Stephanie McGrath was a well adjusted teen with a normal life.  Okay, yes, her parents were divorced and the family she grew up with had a massive falling out around the same time, but otherwise things were totally fine. She went to school, she had decent grades, had a couple of part time jobs. And sure, she barely sees her mother and her older brother acts as more of a guardian, but that's just scheduling, right? Even if when she did see Tess there was the strange frostiness and regret that lingered in the air. And so what if the two of her grand total of three friends seemed to only need her for job or school covers while they keep mysteriously disappearing and having their strange and not exactly subtle side conversations.Oh, and the strange dreams and feelings she's been experiencing. And the werewolves. And the TMNT reject killing people...But but yeah, totally well adjusted and normal, right? Oh, and did we fail to mention the fact that apparently her family knew about all this the entire time, but it wasn't until her brother was attacked and she gets tangled up in an old friend's trouble that she finds out? Gotta love Beacon Hills: where boring came to die.
Relationships: Isaac Lahey/ Original Female Character, Stiles Stilinski/ Original Female Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Tenuous Friendships

The air held a chill that was typical of most nights in California, a slight shiver running through the lone girl's frame. Her shoulder convulsed as her hair shifted against her skin at the same time, the coppery strands glimmering in the moonlight. She was looking around anxiously, defensive and looking out for some unseen threat. She kept a watchful eye on her surroundings, her head tilted slightly as if she were listening for something. To the untrained ear, though, all that was immediately heard was the twittering of owls and the chatter of evening bugs. To the trained one, there were all sorts of things lurking in the woods. There was a reason the town reserve was closed after dark, not that it ever stopped teens from sneaking in for their drinking, smoking, or night hikes with significant others.

The girl continued listening as she searched, a soft blue glow radiating off her at any suspicious sound. The most recent was the snapping of a twig right behind her, causing the glow to emanate from her hands as she turned into a protected stance. She wasn’t much of a fighter, but she’d been training prepared herself for defense, her brow set in concentration. Almost as soon as she met her follower, however, the position fell and her eyes dimmed from their soft glow to their normal pale blue. Crossing her arms with a small scowl, she ran her tongue over her teeth behind a tight lips before addressing the cause for alarm.

"Seriously, Lahey?" She deflated with the accusation, an exasperation crossing her dainty face. It’s purpose was hiding her concern, but she was sure he could still sense it. "One of these days I won't show restraint and actually kick your ass for stalking me.”  
There was a light chuckle in response as the boy in question held his hands up in surrender. "Well, you could try McGrath, but I doubt you would have succeeded."

"Don't pose challenges that you can't win, Isaac." Came the playful retort followed by the shoving of a hand against his chest with just enough surprise force to push him back on his heels. "Just because I have ...Issues with my powers don't think I can't kick your ass."

"So, you say, but I'm feeling pretty confident." The other teen smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders companionably. "You may be smart, but you can't have the brains and brawn of this team."

"Who said I needed both to beat you?" She said, turning around, and going back to her search. "Besides, I've got a bigger fish to fry right now. So, unless you plan on more attempts to get the drop on me, help me find that mutation that's been killing people."

Isaac nodded his head, taking a few steps forward to lead the way. After a few moment’s silence, he paused turning to meet her quizzically furrowed brow. However, whatever he was going to say was lost in a roarous BEEP! 

BEEP! BEE- Click

"Whoa!"

My hand snapped outward to lock my phone, effectively turning off my alarm off before emerging from under my cocoon of pillows and blankets. After taking a minute to shake myself awake, I looked at the clock on my wall with a frown. It was too early for school, and I spent most of the night getting my homework done, having only gone to sleep a mere three hours ago.  
My immediate reaction was to check the wall that joined me to my mother’s room. She had been working the graveyard shift at Eichen ever since her promotion, and I knew she had come in a little after I went to bed, so her sleep was important. After realizing that I hadn’t disturbed her with the thin walls of the house, I thought back to why I would be up at this hour. Then it hit me; Scott had called in last minute to see if I could cover for him yesterday. I don’t typically work Sunday mornings, meaning I forgot to reset my alarm for school. Glancing next to my bed, I looked at an old photo with a frown. I was perched upon Dad’s shoulders and my brother was helping his best friend carry the boy from my dream up as we all grinned cheekily towards Mr. Lahey.  
Finally getting my feet free, I worked at making my bed, looking away from the memory of long ago; of a time when my family was whole. Of a time that held so many smiles. Hell, of a time when we still even talked to the Lahey family. The only reason I kept the picture was because it had my brother and I with my dad. There weren’t a lot of those left after the divorce. I shook my head, moving to gather my outfit for the day, trying not to think too hard about it as I shuffled across the hall to take a shower. Being the first one up had its benefits in the small 3 bedroom home, and I was going to make sure to waste none of the precious little time I might get. 

I did pause at the mirror over the sink for a minute though, touching my face and combing at my sleep-knotted hair in confusion. Where did all of those strange features come from in my dream? I mean, I wasn't saying I looked terrible, I just wasn’t one to put a lot of effort into my appearance, and I looked radiant in the dream; that was the reason I was questioning. Actually, that’s false, the entirety of it had me questioning my sanity. 

Isaac Lahey and I didn't exactly talk let alone make any sort of physical contact or banter. I stuck to my books and my friends, named mostly in courtesy, and he stuck to lacrosse. I mean, we have cross country in the spring together, as well as four classes, but other than that the similarities ended. I mean, yeah, we knew each other as kids, but it had been years since that time. Now, we both stood in different outcast circles. He probably doesn't really know I exist outside of a familiar face among the other students. Sure, we'd make accidental eye contact as is typical with anyone in a school day, but nothing to warrant the dream. Though I was up late studying for one of the classes he sat behind me in, maybe that's what set it off.

"You really need to stop popping Adderall during your late night study sessions, Steph" I muttered, turning away from my reflections both internal and external. "Always makes your dreams go wonky."

Let me pause for a moment to state that I am not a pill popper.I have been diagnosed as someone with ADHD, so the script itself is very real. I have always concentrated on other people and hyper aware their situations instead of studying and paying attention in school. I just also have been known to take a bunch at once, which isn’t exactly what the directions dictate on the bottle. I compensated for that skipping out on my ‘good’ days so that when there are weeks like this one, where I need a cram session that all the caffeine in the world can’t satisfy, I can take a couple extra to keep me going. So, it auto-refills on a controlled cycle, and no one is aware of my less than sanctioned practices. I swear I’m not an addict, or junkie, I just use the side effects to my benefit upon occasion with the schedule I keep. If anything, it's Danny's fault for telling me that his classmates at school do it all the time to get their homework done at the last possible minute so they could enjoy the college lifestyle and maintain their grades.

Moving along, I take shower, fully walking my body up as the slight cold of night sweats rippled away with the steaming water I liked. Given that it was a Monday, I had gone with comfortable but cute when picking my outfit. After drying myself off, I placed on a simple knitted sweater with jeans and tall boots. It was trendy under prying eyes for the week, while having the freedom to accessorize, and maybe even avoid having my sense of fashion criticized in the eyes of It Girl Lydia Martin. I blow dried my hair, combing in some mousse to keep my hair pin straight today. Inspecting my face, I looked around my trouble spots. Making a more critical than usual tsk, I dabbed on strategic blots of concealer to hide the bags under my eyes along with any other perceived blemishes.  
I carried on with my routine, glad to see that my mom was still asleep, and preparing for my brother’s typical, if usually turned down, offer to give me a ride to school. I tended to bike since we weren't that far away, and the few times that Dan wasn’t really awake, had me terrified to be in his truck before noon. The bike was also a gift from my dad and one of the few things I have left of him.  
Not that he's dead or anything, just you know, Mom took custody after the split and he shortly went away to some classified job he can't tell us about. I frequently longed for it to be the other way around, though. Dad always understood me better than Mom did. There was also the fact that Mom was the one that cheated on Dad. 

Mom was the one who threw herself into work to avoid taking care of us. It was Mom that would make promises she couldn’t keep, or retract them far to late.It was Mom who tried to force Danny to try and still be friends with his childhood friend, Camden after their falling out. And it was Mom that wanted my dad- the hotheaded, fierce protector he is- to apologize for cold cocking Mr. Lahey and threatening to report him for child abuse. Yeah, Mom’s simplistic take on things made a lot of things in my life more complicated than they needed to be. Because of that, there is a lot of resentment for my Mother who I never see, and had several torrid affairs with Pilates instructors while my Dad did everything he could to give us a good childhood while making the money for the house. This is what makes my teenage life, suck slightly more than average. Between taking mostly junior classes as a sophomore, pulling two jobs, and helping Danny keep the house from burning down, there was barely any space in my head as it is. Add the overbearing hatred for my mother, the constant distractions on worrying about everyone over myself, and well, yeah, I got a pretty freaking full plate. Yeah, the kid whose attention deficits is taking a bunch of classes above her age grade level, what a wonderful idea right? Wrong. 

It didn’t help that my brother was the golden boy of the family. Mom always loved her Daniel and his achievements. He was able to maintain a near 4.0 average while excelling in Swim and Lacrosse in high school, he even worked as a recreation coach over the summers. All of this got him a full ride to basically everywhere he would want to go, but instead, he’s taking classes at the closest community college possible to help me and Mom with the house. Super hard to hate the guy when he was basically the chillest dude ever.

But still awe we all pressed forward and stuck it out. We all put money towards the house, as well as made a silent pact to take care of ourselves, and occasionally be in charge of buying the groceries. I biked everywhere, even though Mom has a car she only uses at night, and Danny has his truck. It was a present that cost Mom several months of carefully scrimped paychecks and those promises to me she never kept. Though we could say that I would be the same.

See, my mom wanted to have the perfect life, and sometimes would even talk about what that life would have been like. Basically living in some weird hybrid of the Whittemore and Martin homes, but with a daughter that was different than me, and apparently one I used to make up as a kid. Melanie, my ‘twin’ that I imagined for years, was the perfect foil to my actual life. The problem is, while I outgrew Melanie, Mom didn’t. She became obsessed with this idea, and every time I don’t something that would make her happy she tells me it’s what “Mel would’ve done.”  
There are days, I question her working at Eichen and why we weren’t paying for her to be a patient at Eichen. However, she’s still my mom, and I am ‘dependent’ on her until I go off to college. 

I shuffled into my room, hating how the spare few feet can make me think about so much. Tossing my balled up Pajamas onto the bed, I turned to my desk when I was hit with the overbearing scent of sweat, oily hair, and stale body spray. I wrinkled my nose towards my bed, and brother, whining as he stood up with a dopey smile, my pajamas easily caught in his hand.

"Good Lord Danny!" I gagged dramatically, keeping my distance as I staggered around my room looking for various supplies that had been strewn about in my mania of studying. "I would like to say thank you from people everywhere that I left you hot water."

"Aww Little Miss Distracted having a bad morning cuz she was up all night studying?" He teased, ruffling my hair slightly as he pulled me towards him. "I think that means she needs a hug from her favorite big brother."

"You're my only brother." I whined, trying to escape his grasp. "Besides, I don't have to have to be in a bad mood to possess a sense of smell. Did you even bother showering when you got back from practice last night?"

"Considering we went on a snack run right after, and I helped you with Harris’s Chem assignment from Hell...No.” He let go of me after giving a light chuckle at my ineffective flailing under his muscle. “But I would have done this for years had I known it would bother you this much." He turned towards the bed, grabbing something, "Besides, you left this in the truck.”

"First, I have to smell you, and now I have to think about Chemistry and Harris first thing in the morning? Pretty sure I just lost my appetite." I grumbled, taking the book I’d been searching for from his hand. I held my stomach with a slight pout. "I bought danishes last night too, thanks a lot, bro."

"Anything for you, Kiddo." He called out as I picked up my bag and left the room.

"That was sarcasm, Daniel. Don't make me start holding the sign up again!" I retorted, plugging my nose to make it past his cave of a room. "Or attack your room with some Febreeze, I will break out the girly shit!"

"Stephanie, is that you?" My mom called out from the kitchen as I walked through the living room.

I grimaced, feeling guilty that she was already up. “Yeah, mom...what’s going on?”

"Well," she started, pulling her auburn tresses from her face. "I'd thought that with you being up all night that chores were done before, well, whatever it was you were doing. Seems like you had more important things to do."

I frowned, wincing internally. I totally forgot it was my turn to clean the kitchen yesterday "I was studying for a test I have this week, I'm so sorry. I'll take the trash out on my way to school. I was going to try getting in early, so I'll just do the dishes when I get home? I mean that or I'll just make Danny do it?"

"Really, you'll make your older brother do his least favorite chore?" She raised an eyebrow at me skeptically. "I hope you have a damn good pitch that you aren't sharing."

"He stank up my bed." I stated, shrugging slightly. "It's the least he can do after the laundry I'm gonna have to do to clean it out." Not everyone in this family is a self-absorbed twit.

My mom's face shifted, and I briefly was terrified that she'd heard me. Sometimes, I swear she’s able to hear my thoughts as if I said them. Eyes had narrowed, paired with a furrowed brow and straight lips. My blunt snark and wit were only appreciated by the men in our family, so I tried to keep it in check for the most part. Especially when I receive looks that could get me grounded. I swallowed slightly, and started to organize the dishes and put away the ones that were in the drying rack. There was a small nod, and a noise that came through the nose in a way that said 'that's what I thought' and she turned back to prepping two coffee mugs. I knew I would have to choke down one-it’s one of those Mel things- and bit my bottom lip to hide my own grimace. For the next few minutes as I finished my efforts were quiet save for a few clattering noises from metal hitting Corelle, and the ripple of plastic as I changed the trash. 

"I'll just take his shift of putting away tonight, and wash tonight's dishes." I offered. 

At first I got no response, causing me to clear my throat awkwardly as Dan dragged himself into the room, saving me from the bitter morning drink by grabbing it from the table. My mother, who was externally displaying just how tired I was, raised an eyebrow as if to ask if I wanted a cookie, but smiled widely when she noticed her son next to her. I was given a slight nod from my mom as she faced me to get the cream, and was waved away in an indication that I wasn't needed anymore. So I went outside, put the trash on the curb, and proceeded to bike to school.

There were days that this would bother me, but I was also used to it by now. I had very clearly taken my dad's side in the split, and for a year, I was a terrible preteen. Now, my mom squashes any chance of me ‘relapsing’. Taking his side only to be left in the aftermath when he got his new job has that effect. There are days that I like to imagine what it would be like had he taken me with him, but a part of me knew that wasn't ever going to happen. Ironically, he was doing it to make sure that I wouldn't get uprooted from school or not be taken care of. He didn't know his new hours and he couldn't guarantee that I would be well taken care of. So I was left with my mom, who was deemed 'more responsible' in my well-being when really it was more like Danny became my parent. He was twenty-three with a seventeen year old, it really has to be strange for him.

It didn't help that my mother hadn't planned on working again, just sucking off of his job and then child support. This goes back to how she wanted the ideal life. A loving and successful husband, a son who loved her unconditionally, and a single daughter who idolized her all the while being oblivious to her torrid secret life while he was away. The perfect soap opera pantomiming the American dream, aged white picket fence, wine addiction, and all. Too bad they never really show the reality of what happens to the real housewives of Beacon County; it wasn't interesting enough.

I sighed as I found myself at the school, shifting my thoughts (again) toward classes as I struggled through the clogged hallways to get to my locker quickly. I grabbed what I could for the first half of my day, and pushed my way back outside toward the lacrosse field for my free period. Having Dan for an older brother, I liked to view and play the sport. Granted, there was no girls team, and I tended to play in a manner that the word abysmal couldn't even begin to describe, but I still found it fun. I also liked to read or study with the practices in the background. It was a sound that reminded me of better times. It also was where my best, and probably only friend, Meghan would be, playing a one person chess match while occasionally glancing off, dreamily towards the lacrosse boys.

I smiled to myself as I found her already there, her bags piled in a way to leave room for me. Most people kinda gave her a wide berth, but the effort always made me feel appreciated. I moved towards the corner of the bleachers she’d picked out for us, trying my best to ignore the swirl of gossip around me and the various reactions to it. Not that it was particularly easy this week; Allison Argent's aunt (yeah I know, AAA, she's a battery) had her funeral today but was a pariah after being discovered the guilty party of the Hale fire years ago, Lydia Martin was running around lost in the woods-naked for those that were really interested-, and there were even whispers about a second fire at the Hale house the night of the formal. All of this before I had even sat down.

I kept my head down, deciding to cross the sidelines to get to my friend, to avoid the people my mother thought I/Mel should be friends with. I hadn't seen Scott or Stiles today, but, we were acquaintances at best. While Stiles and I shared a lot of classes, exchanged babbled snark, as well as a mutual love for all things geeky, Scott, well Scott suffers from pop culture retardation, but he's a nice guy and we work at the clinic together. As I struggled to remember if I was covering a shift for him this afternoon-an all too frequent occurrence these days- I bumped into a solid form that gave a grunt in response.  
"Oh God, I'm such a ditz I should have been watching where I was going!" I exclaimed, straightening my head, and finding I had to tilt my head slightly to meet frenzied blue eyes that avoided my gaze.  
"N-no...it's fine, it was my fault..." None other than Isaac Lahey protested, shaking his head slightly as he shifted on his feet. He wasn't changed for practice yet, and looked distracted. "I mean, I could have knocked you over or something."

"Don't let the textbooks fool ya." I joked, pushing aside all thoughts about this morning’s dream, and standing to my full height. While he was still taller than me, I took pride in it being less than average. "I'm scrappier than I look. Made it through all Danny-Cam team ups for all those years, right?"

I closed my eyes, mentally slapping myself on the forehead. Why would you bring that up, ya big dummy! Just because I was feeling sentimental today didn't mean he wanted to talk about his dead brother. I watched a flash fall in front of his eyes, and for a second I thought I was going to be met with a shoulder against mine, looking down in shame. Instead I was met with a small smile, and a laugh from the back of his throat. The look on his face was understanding, and for a second, I was a little kid again, Dad was picking me and Danny up to go home while the whole family was waving us off with smiles. I felt my eyes start to glass over as I thought about my life now.

The problem is, I couldn’t tell if I was feeling that, or if I got the feeling from him. I didn’t get to dwell on it though, since he actually decided to respond instead of shutting me out.

"I mean, we did have a rough time of it sometimes." He answered awkwardly, fiddling with the strap of his bag. "They were quite the team back then."

"Yeah, yeah they were..." I mused, nodding my head. "Is it weird to say that I kind of miss those days? I mean, we all used to be so close and suddenly out of nowhere we all stopped talking. I mean, I still don't know why Danny and Cam stopped talking. I mean we kinda followed suit too...Don’t you think that’s weird? And then with my parents divorce, and your mom-" 

My mouth snapped shut. Shit...I did the thing again. I winced at the fact that I’d now brought up two deceased Laheys to one in a span of a minute. I was surprised that he was still standing with me, to be honest. I felt panic rise up from my gut; I'll never found out about that dream now. 

"I'm so sorry, it's just that we never talk about it...when and if we talk at all that is." I rambled, "I mean Danny doesn't talk about it, and we don't really talk outside of classes anymore, so...I'm just going to shut up and put down the shovel I'm digging this wonderfully deep hole I’ve put myself in."

"I-it's fine, really." He stuttered, trying to wave off my panic. "I mean if it helps Cam never talked about it either? And then as you said, things kinda got messy for both our families."  
I nodded awkwardly, whatever rapport we had diminished. I found myself watching him as he ran a hand through his hair, ruffling at the top of his head. It was something so familiar that I almost didn't realize why he'd been facing me with his right side. As he relaxed into the silence, he let his guard down. And then I saw it. 

I saw it and I wanted to kick the crap out of whoever did it. Or at least, I would try. Blue rimmed around his left eye as if he'd been beaten down by someone was a large bruise, and from the way he was shifting his gaze, I could tell he didn't want to talk about it.

"I wasn't trying to cast blame or anything, just kinda had a severe case of word vomit.” I joked, changing the subject by motioning at my own face. "Uhm hey, did you forget your mask at a practice last week? Or did someone-"

"O-Oh, I just hit myself with my locker, but I kinda need to get ready for practice." I watched as he turned away from me again, suddenly hyper aware of our surroundings. "Coach is gonna kill me for being late again." 

"Right, right. I guess I'll-" I watched as he rushed off towards the building. "See you in math..." 

I shook my head, and continued my journey to my friend. Letting out a sigh, I plopped cold metal with a deflated stance.

“That has got to be the weirdest conversation I've ever had to date, Megs.” I groaned, laying my head on the blonde’s shoulder. 

“Judging by how warm your cheeks feel, I can only imagine.” She muttered, in the midst of a stalemate. “How'd your Cram Sesh go?”

“Welp, I got up under five hours after I went to sleep.” I responded, pulling the algebraic equations I needed to practice for the test I had tomorrow. “I mean, I had two full REM cycles, so it’s fine. Why gif yourself too much rest, right?”

“Pretty sure you need more than that, love.” She said, her soft voice calming me. 

The Danielsons had moved to Beacon Hills right before seventh grade, so Meg had a slight accent that told people she wasn’t from around here. It used to earn her cool points, but then people realize how much of an ‘odd duck’ she was, and veer away. Not me though, it was nice to have someone to share awkward quirks with, someone to tease and in turn get teased back. It started off as us being lab partners, then having nearly every class together. Soon enough, it was more effort to not be friends with her. Besides, we were perfect foils in our academics, so it made for great study sessions. 

I murmured something about her logic ruining my fun, and went back to my notes, pulling out the cheat sheet she’d made for me. Math was my worst subject, and I had to study my butt off to maintain my grades in it. It didn't help that I was taking chemistry this year, which is a very math-based science. So many formulas had to stay imprinted in my brain along with everything else, that I have flash cards for them in every place imaginable. Distractions weren't welcome, today more than usual with midterms around the corner, but here I was, trying to distinguish Isaac from all the other Meatheads I tutor. I really should have kept my big mouth shut.

The rest of the day went on quickly and without any unusually terrible occurrences. It was Monday, and there were chapter tests this week, so not a lot of teachers allowed for much messing around. I also had to start taking an online class so that I could have a second ‘free period’ for tutoring. Why they even gave us one was beyond me, but here I was, dual enrolled so I could have mine, and spend an hour and a half of time out of my education to provide a service to the Lacrosse team. Sometimes, it really sucked to be in the top Ten of your class. With Lydia having no desire to let her genius be public record, Meg working as a nanny for her neighbors all the time, and Stiles being the butt of every joke, I was the only one left to take the job aside from Danny (not my brother, but one of the other lacrosse players). 

Not that I can complain too much, I get free tickets to any school event on top of getting paid about twenty dollars a session (which I usually got two or three in a day). I worked on a rotating schedule, each player meeting me for at least half an hour every week. Who I taught in extended sessions tended to shift, but it was always the same; too much muscle not enough brain. I even tutored Jackson Whittemore, but then he got a fancy private tutor from his loaded parents. Again, not that I could complain much about it; he was one of those people that thought he was always right, and therefore, everyone else around him is stupid. No wonder his girlfriend pretends to be a ditz.

I sighed, as I walked to my last class, remembering how Stiles got tossed into me while the co-captain sneered with a sick pride that only bullies would get. My chest bumped into the table, scattering salad all across the area. I remember shaking bits of stray lettuce off and gazing at the opposite side and end of the table, where fellow loner Vernon Boyd sat. We shared a shrug, and went back to our food. It was the typical exchange between us, nonverbal pleasantries or complaints about people at school and then back to our home packed lunches, Meg joining with cafeteria swill soon after. Yeah, today was just a typical day at Beacon High.

That is until I reached my chemistry class. Given that Harris has a proclivity towards making even the best of days dreadful, I was expecting an instant decline. I also had Stiles giving me a lengthy explanation I didn't want to hear about what happened at lunch to look forward to. I sighed, taking my usual place next to him, finding him and his bestie huddled together and talking. By which I mean Stiles was practically laying across our desk while Scott sat normally. 

I watched them for a second, wondering what they could be talking about. I'd been covering for them a lot lately, at school and work. I didn't really mind, they were my friends, if in the loosest sense of the word. We talked often enough, and we don't avoid interaction with each other, but I still wouldn't say we were all that close. With all of the questionable coverage and homework copying I've been providing, I felt more like a recurring side character who was kept around to help with continuity. They didn't fail class, and I got lots of money with the occasional acknowledgement that I was helping. Speaking of...

"You missed your session again, McCall. Coach is gonna have my head if you fail another test." I started making my presence known and causing Stiles to jump back into his seat. "Oh, don't let me interrupt your daily stretches, Stilinski, just don't smack me with a flying limb, and we'll be fine." 

"Steph! Hello there, hey, hi." Here we go. I thought as he started his usual ramble of a greeting.

"If you're being repetitive because you're about to apologize for Jackson being...well Jackson, please don't." I rolled my eyes. "I'm already well aware of the high levels of dickwad in his system."

"H-right." Stiles clamped his mouth shut, pointing towards his best friend. "Scott's got a question for you though, so there will be talking involved in today's interaction, just maybe not by me, but by Scott, with his question."

I nodded slowly, turning to face the other boy. He had what I could only explain as his kicked puppy face on. The one where his eyes get just a hint glassy, and his mouth is turned into a frown that's just barely not pouted. It didn't help that he had such floppy hair and big brown eyes. I felt myself wanting to scratch at the back of his head, but remembered that he wasn't an actual puppy, and avoided the request from being made altogether. 

"Yes, I'll cover your shift tonight." It was the question, and answer all at. I waved my hand up and down at his face. "That's what all this is for, right?"

"I swear this is the last time! It's just that Allison's got this thing and-"

"I thought you guys broke up?" I interrupted, confused. "I didn't even know you were still talking and now you're on the plus one list for family funerals?"

"Well, no...I was just, uh, going as a friend..." He fumbled. "You know not with her or anything."

"That sounds like stalking, Scott." I looked between the two boys. "And I expected more from you, but with your choice in company, I'm also not surprised." 

"Hey, what is that supposed to-" Stiles protested, but I held up a hand to shut him up. 

"Shut it, Police Scanner, the adults with actual jobs are talking." I didn't even look at him, my focus on Scott. "As much as I don't condone said perceived stalking, what you do in your free time while I get more money is none of my business. So like I said, yeah, I'll cover you."

"You're the best Steph, I owe you big." He relaxed, seeming to ignore everything else I said. "Really, I do, I'll take some double shifts if I need to."

"Okay, let's not go making promises we can't keep." I laughed, noticing the look on my neighbor's face. "And yes Stiles, I know about your police scanner. No, my mom hasn't told me anything about any naked Jane Does arriving at Eichen, and no I am not going to be volunteering my services to look for the aforementioned naked teen, since I have conveniently got plans tonight. Besides, Miss It isn’t so, well it, anymore. Everyone knows that she's fallen down the ladder recently." 

I watched as he opened his mouth only to shut it again, his jaw swiveling in annoyance. "You gonna predict anything else today, McGrath? I mean you might as well, since you're on such a roll and everything.” He always did get mad at my inane ability to know where his curiosity was taking him. “Or you like the sound of your own voice, I can't quite tell today." 

"That is mean and hurtful, but as a matter of fact, I think I will make another prediction." I eyed our teacher as he prepared his notes before the bell. "I bet you five bucks that Harris is going to say something that would normally be considered verbal abuse and have him fired, but it's Beacon Hills and he has tenure." 

"You know despite how specific you got about what he could do, I still don't know where you're going with this." He shook his head, eyeing my raised hand if is deciding whether or not it was dangerous. "I mean, you're gonna have to be a bit more specific than that, I mean I'm not gonna just throw my money away for any old Harris barb."

"Fine." I leaned back crossing my arms. "He's going to say something to you regarding detention, or maiming you."

There was a wrinkle in his nose as he thought, looking to Scott, who just shrugged like he didn't want to be a part of it. "Alright, but don't you go instigating anything."

I clasped my hand to my chest. "Oh, Malakai Stilinski, you hurt me again, I am wounded! Never would I ever cheat on a bet."

"You very well would, and you know that's not my name." He grumbled, pulling a balled up five from his pocket and placing it on the table. "Now show your cash."

"Oh I know." I pulled out my own bill, neatly folded in half, from my pocket. "I'm going to go through every name that starts with M that I can think of until I'm right."

"Yeah good luck with that. Let me know if you find out Greenberg's while you're at it." He scoffed. "I don't even know how you got the M to begin with..."

"When I'm given the roster for the team, it gives first initials and last names. Though you wouldn't know that, since you've never been highlighted for me to tutor." I explained, tilting my head in thought. "Greenberg however, is scratched out in angry red ink." 

"Not a surprise, just ask your friend." Scott said, making me look had him. "She's dating him, right?" 

"Ugh, you know the sad thing, is she doesn't even know? Also, I highly doubt what they're doing would constitute as dating." I bleached, shaking my head of the memory of yelled at for said activity happening in certain offices. "I've been trying to bleach the details out of my head. Coach really needs to get us straight, we aren’t even related, not to mention she’s half a foot shorter than me."

Stiles' lips twitched along with his furrowed brow as he was about to ask 'what kind of details' or mock me about my height, but the bell rang, and Harris was nothing if not prompt.

"Before collecting your homework, we're going to see just how many of you actually did the assignment." He doled small papers to each table with a sinister grin. "Clear the desks, we're going to have a pop quiz."

I let out a small whimper, putting my things back in my bag and shaking my pencil between my fingers. Yup, definitely met my expectations. I gave a saccharine smile at the teacher as he gave me and the boys our quizzes, hoping that I had retained what I read. My mom has really been cracking down on my chem and math scores, and Harris was making it damn near impossible. I glumly reviewed the short quiz, but relaxed slightly upon notice that it was all the things I knew. As I started to work on it, I was distracted by the sound of whispering next to me. I looked over at Stiles as he ignored his paper, and continued to speak to Scott in hushed tones.

"What if the next body part she steals is from someone who's still alive?" Man Stiles needs to work on his whispering skills. How have I not figured out what they're up to at this point? 

"Hey guys," I felt my curiosity get the best of me as I leaned towards the middle of the table. "Why are you talking about-"

I didn't even get to finish the inquisition and Harris was aware of our voices. Not that I was surprised, we were in a speaking in a silent room where no one else dared. Sharp eyes darted towards us behind rectangular glasses, a stony expression across his face. I gulped, and looked down at my quiz, frantically pretending I didn't disturb the din.

"This is a pop quiz, Mr. Stilinski. If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you both detention for the rest of your high school careers. Well, make that all three of your careers, don't think I missed your voice too Ms. McGrath."

We just sat there, slack jawed for a few seconds, but then Stiles decided to use his usual, if comical, flare for sarcasm and wit. This is going to be good.

"Can you do that?"

"Nice, really nice Mitchell." I hissed, snatched the fives from the table, and looked back at my desk. "How profound of you. "

"There it is again. Your voice. Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently. I'll see you at 3 for detention." He tilted his head, noting my movement and comment, while simultaneously remembering that Stiles was talking to Scott. "You too, Mr. McCall? Ms. McGrath?"

Scott and I shook our heads saying, 'No, sir,' in unison making Jackson and Danny laugh from behind us. I found myself muttering about how that should be another five since he also threatened his physical health, but did it over my paperwork to avoid the teacher's wrath. I was met with a jerk to the shoulder. However, it ended up coming from the other side of the table as Jackson ran out of the room clutching his nose. I paused, my hand raised midway, my slap now seeming useless. And this, along with the glare I got at the incorrect naming, was why they were only tenuous friends.


	2. After School Horror

As soon as I was home, I set to distract myself quickly, dispensing of the dishes Danny washed, and washing the ones leftover from the day. The house was empty for the mid-evening. Mom had to be doing some errands before work, and my brother had work after his classes today, but should be home any minute. That left me to figure out if I was cooking, or if we were going out for dinner. Upon opening the fridge, however, I decided that it was out for dinner, and doing some grocery shopping after. 

I grabbed one of the notebooks I kept in my bag at all times, and flipped to the first blank page, scrawling out the label across the top: Shopping List (Danny and Steph). Reopening the fridge, I took stock of what we had, and wrote down what was needed, doing the same in the freezer and cabinets. I was looking to see if there was anything that Momhad put on the bulletin board when Danny came in, a frown on his face. Out of the corner of my eye I could see he looked tired, but also confused at my current state. 

“Shouldn’t you be curled up in the living room doing homework for next week?” He teased, trying to hide his concern by pulling at my scrub top. “Or did you just get home too?”

“Last minute Hail Mary during Chem.” I answered, passing him the list while I took down the various notes on the board that were no longer needed. “Anything else need to go on that?” 

“I take it Ma left the fridge empty before work again?” 

I nodded, pulling my hair into a messy bun to get it out of my face. “Yeah, though if you ask her it’s probably because I woke her this morning. Not that the coffee she had would affect her sleep schedule at all, but that I woke her and she needed rest before pulling another graveyard shift. Do you think we’ll be able to swing all of that? I have the bare essentials starred if we can’t.” 

“Don’t worry about it, Kiddo, won that commuter scholarship I told you about, and my paycheck cleared.” He passed me the list, a lazy smile stretching across his face. “Besides, Mom mentioned needing us to grab a few things, which I’m guessing you just pulled from the board, and gave me money for them.” 

I nodded, running to my room to change out of my work clothes really quick, and exchange my bulky backpack for a purse. Danny more or less did the same, the two of us meeting in the hallway when we were finished. Looking tired, he tossed me the keys, and went to the kitchen to grab our stash of recycle bags. I grabbed my water bottle from the table and took a swig of it before we were out the door. 

We spent the short car ride arguing over music, and figuring out where we wanted to eat. I was all for just a classic burger and fry meal, but Danny said he needed a drink after the day he’d had. I muttered something to the same tune, and got cuffed behind the ear. Smirking, I pulled in to a happy medium: Applebee’s. We sat at the bar so Danny could watch the game, and I pulled out my English Book. The two of us did this often, and had a set pattern of things. We’d split an app, order our food, and sometimes get desert, putting off the chore of groceries as long as we could. Not because we didn’t want to do it, we actually prefer having control over what we ate, but rather in hopes that Mom would ask where we were and wire us money. Today was different since she already gave it to us, but why mess with a system that isn’t broken?

I let out a sigh, finding Kafka exceedingly dull, and put it back in my bag. Switching it to my journal I moved towards my ‘to do’ list with curiosity at how late I’ll be up tonight. I wasn’t hired to run any emergency tutoring sessions this week, but a couple players did ask me to write up a study guide for some of the midterms. Math was all set, and I did Chemistry during lulls at work, so all that I really had to worry about was my history homework and the chapters I struggled to read. I watched as my brother turned, an eyebrow arched open while the other was scrunched down in confusion. 

“I’m hitting the part of the semester where I don’t have enough work to keep me busy. And what work I do have isn’t exactly keeping my attention.” I explained, dragging my straw in lazy circles within my soda. “I’m a sophomore, but I feel like I have senioritis.”

“That’s probably because the pressure Mom puts on you to have the better grades, you’re essentially a senior.” He huffed, running a hand through his hair. He always felt that I got too much pushed on me after the divorce, but there was nothing either of us could do about it. “Besides, you should be having fun, like I used to...instead you work too many jobs and take online classes to help the inadequate staff do their job. You’re seventeen, and she treats you like you’re an adult mooching off her house.” 

Not wanting to get too far into it, I decided to change the subject. “I wouldn’t be working at the clinic as much if Scott actually came to work. Instead of him and Stilinski running off doing whatever it is those two do.”

Instead, his expression darkened, any mirth from my comment lost in his aggravation. “Don’t get me started on them.” He frowned, downing his drink quickly. “They’re lucky I don’t have Jackassmore’s parents sue them for emotional distress on your part.” 

I bit my lip, “Well, I’d want to know where you could afford to keep them on retainer. Besides, not everyone is like us, ya know? I mean yeah, they both have single parents like us, but they don’t have siblings to lean on. They have each other and the years upon years they’ve known each other.” 

“I fail to see how that is your problem, yet you are the one who gets all the calls to cover for them in class or work.” He clearly wasn’t going to let this go anytime soon. “Are they even your friends, Steph? Where were they at the winter formal when you had no one to go with? Where were they when Dad left? They only come to you if you need something and even then they don’t return the favor.” 

I found myself nodding slowly, knowing that he was right, but unsure of where to go forward in the conversation. Between whatever was happening with Allison and Lydia, lacrosse, and who knows what it was causing them to miss classes, they have been a bit MIA lately. Stiles I wasn’t too surprised by, he was always flighty, it was Scott that confounded me. He was pretty reliable and willing to work on making things equal, but lately he's seemed to have forgotten the real world. Overall, I didn't mind covering as much as I put on, but it was still concerning that Scott was missing so much; Classes, work, tutoring sessions. The last couple of months have been crazy, but it wasn’t like I could just cuff him upside the head and ask what was happening. I wish that we were close enough that I could bring something up, but instead, I was just a person you talked to at work or school, but never outside of it. I was an acquaintance of convenience.

The waitress swung by with a twirl of her hips giving Danny a smile as she gave him a refill along with our buffalo wings. I could feel his eyes burning into the side of my face as he waited for me to tell him he was wrong, but couldn’t. Instead, I ordered his usual meal and my burger, thanking her before slowly dragging my eyes to meet his. What can I do? What can I say? I waited until the disappointed waitress left, upset she was ignored and only answered by me if she had questions.

“Look, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Dan, but I’m not the one who makes friends.” I started, motioning to the fact I was out with my older brother. “If anything, I feel like I’m a burden on everyone. You, mom, I dunno, being needed by them makes me feel like I have a place here.” 

“Fucking bitch needs to treat you better.” He mumbled around the rim of his glass. “If I knew I could take care of us, I’d cart you off somewhere and leave her far behind.” 

“I wouldn’t let you.” I pointed out, a small smile on my face. “You’re going to finish school and you’re gonna get out of here. Me? I’m stuck her for another two to six years. I can’t make you wait for me.” 

There was no judgment on his face, just sad acceptance. “You can’t make me do anything, kiddo. I’m too stubborn to be without you.” 

“I know, dumby.” I smiled, feeling the tension leave my body. “Now can we stop having such a sappy dinner and just eat our beef like a grown man and woman?” 

“Too bad we’re still waiting on the Beef and only have this chicken, Sport.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” 

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The next couple of days went pretty simply then. Dan helped me to do my own things, and I worked on getting what I could out of my supposed friends. They were tight lipped, as to be expected, but it was good to hear that Lydia was going to be back soon. Maybe then some of the social order will go back to normal. Scott and Stiles were still idiots, but I found myself doing the bare minimum for them. 

I unlocked my bike and headed towards the house after school that Friday with a shake of my head. I had my own things to worry about. I had tests and midterms coming up, Harris to please, pulling my own weight at the house with my family, and tutoring to do. Not to mention Meg needed my help with one of the kid’s she watches birthday. I couldn't be the Nancy Drew to their Hardy Boys even if I wanted to. If they didn't have time for me, I certainly didn’t have time for them. 

I sighed, paying no particular attention to the route I was taking. I knew all the pathways to the house from the clinic or the school at this point, so it didn't really matter anyway. The night was cool, and the breeze was gentle enough where I didn't really care how long it took me to get home. We never really had a curfew, and Danny would call if Mom asked. Something I'd be surprised about, really. She's so used to my hectic schedule, she's surprised more often when I am home than not. 

I altered between walking and actually pedaling on the bike, taking care on busy streets or areas that weren't paved well. One of the few good things about a town where nothing really happens means that bike rides and walks around the county were a safe and totally normal thing to do. I just followed twists and turns, the light growing dimmer in gradients that I didn't notice until I ran out of path to bike. There was no longer pavement, but gravel under my feet. It crunched under my shoes as I stood up, kicking the stand out. I gulped as I looked at the well known wooden sign and chain. The small parking area was empty, and the night sky was darker than I remembered. My backpack fell from my shoulders with a resounding thud, the homework that was piled in there forgotten. I bit my bottom lip as I looked in anticipation. 

I don't’ know what it was about the preserves lately, but everything, even my dreams, pointed to it. And now, my subconscious decided it was time to figure it out. I shuffled back and forth, wondering if I should go in. They’ll be worried at home, sure, but I’ll just say I went for a walk somewhere else. What if Scott or Stiles called needing my help, and why did I think about that first?  
I sighed, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and stepped into the woods. My eyes had already adjusted to the nighttime light, so I was able to see the shape of the trees around me, and avoid most of the bramble as I struggled to stay on the path for a while. I didn't even know what I was looking for, just that the key was the forested off area. I don’t know how long I walked, but soon, I didn’t care, my body taking over as I wandered the woods. I looked around and tried to find any clearings that looked familiar in my dream Monday morning, but the details were kind of foggy to me. It didn't help that everything seemed to look the same at the moment. 

Leaves scattered on the ground, making the pathway hard to find again to begin with. The trees were all half bare and stretched into the sky, casting dark streaks of darkness through the moonlight. I lost all track of time, and space as I found myself looking for something, anything to help explain my dream from last night and what this place had to do with it. Just as I thought I'd come across it, I felt a hand brush against my shoulder, causing me to jump around and swing. Too bad I was more of a student than a fighter because my hand got caught by a calloused hand.   
"Still can't beat me, Kiddo," the voice belonging to the hand rumbled out. "Care to tell me why you weren't answering your phone?" 

"Danny," I sighed, falling into him as I tried to calm my nerves. "Thank goodness it's you!" 

"Yeah, you're damn right." He snapped, pulling my back by the shoulders before leaning to make eye contact. "What the hell are you doing out here at this hour?" 

"What do you mean, at this hour, I only got out of work ten minutes or so ago." I protested dumbly, not wanting to know how he found me or why he thought he needed to. “Besides it’s Friday night, shouldn’t you be out partying with your college buddies?” 

“I was.” He stated, straightening up as he went to rub at his face. “Then I came home and thought I’d find you asleep, but your bike was gone and when I called your phone it didn’t light up anywhere. Ma still has a few hours at work, so I decided to look for you.” 

My eyes widened at the confession, squinting to look at his watch. It was eleven thirty: I’d been wandering the woods for over three hours. “Oh shit I’m-” 

"You're lucky I worry so much is what you are." He sighed, scratching at the back of his head with an agitated expression. "Who knows what would have happened to you out here? Steph there have been all sorts of animal attacks lately- I mean have you been paying attention to the news?"

"Pshaw" I scoffed, pushing at the air with my arm to play things off. "I'm fine." 

"Really?" Our matching eyes faced each other. Mine concealed my panic at what I’d done while his were wide and shifting with worry. I watched as his eyebrows arched upwards, slowly taking inventory of any wounds I might’ve gotten. "You didn’t have your phone and your first instinct was to throw a terribly grounded punch?" 

"Well...I didn’t know how far away you were.” I argued, knowing that he’d taught me better. “I would have put up a proper fight if it wasn’t-” 

“ME? I’m sorry you were going to say if it wasn’t ME?” I jumped back as he raised his voice. "Because there was no way you could have known it was me Stephanie.”

I was going to say something, but he wasn’t done yet, gesturing behind us with a hastily thrown arm. “A few more minutes and you would have been by the Hale house! You know, where a family burned to death, they found half the body of another, and Derek Hale still lives to tell the story even after a second fire. Damn it Steph, you’re smarter than this.” 

We stood there in silence after that. Every time I opened my mouth to say something, I predicted what he would say in response. I was the one who had been out in the forest, but Danny was the wild animal that you had to tiptoe around in order to approach him. His eyes were still wide, his face red as he took some steadying breaths to calm himself down. In the silence, I got a better look at my brother. His shirt was splattered with wet spots, so he probably had just done the dishes and realized what time it was before he drove out here. His eyes were squinting in the dark as I realized he'd been using his flashlight to see everything, and his hair was spiked up and ruffled. I really scared him this time. He had this look on his face that was similar to when he didn't know which hat to wear; the parent or the big brother. 

"I'm sorry Danny, okay? I had this really weird dream the other night, and then with the talk we had about having fun and doing things for me-” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “I was walking home and I just ended up here. I didn't even mean to be out here so long. I should have grabbed my phone, I know, but I wasn't thinking at the time." 

My words were useless, simply thrown into the air as he dared me to try again. I was running out of options. I’d done a number on him and there was little to nothing that I could do to fix it. So I would owe him big time, which will help smooth things, but to get us home, and out of this lecture, I needed the big guns. And so I used them. 

I pulled out The Look. It wasn't as good as Scott's puppy face, but I knew it would win my brother over. I pleaded against his unrelenting stare for as long as it would take. My lower lip protruding from under the top one while his lay in line with each other. My eyes widened where his were narrowed, brows spread instead of scrunched. I countered his crossed arms with my hands clasped together in front of me. Right when I thought he wouldn't give in, I threw in a couple bats of the eyelashes, which always did the charm. With a shake of the head, he tossed his arm over my shoulders, his squeeze a little harder than usual. It was as if he needed to make sure I was actually there and okay before he could let out a breath. 

"Yeah well..." He sighed, starting to pull me forward. "Just be more careful, okay?" 

"I promise. No more night walks, and if I feel the need, I’ll call you first." I vowed, letting him lead me back towards the entrance. "By the way, was my bike actually still there when you got here? I kind of just tossed it aside. Also... how did you find me?" 

"Course it was," He said, pointing his flashlight towards a small indent in the leaves. "I used your phone to track down here you were. Then I just wandered until I found you." 

I groaned as we reached the path, throwing my head back in disgust. "You GPSed me?! I thought we agreed that you weren't going to do that because it was a breach of privacy." 

"But then you decided you were going to keep covering night shifts at work and then tonight happened." He said pointedly. "So you should be less angry and more thankful that I did it anyway." 

"I hate you so much right now." I grumbled. 

"No you don't." he responded, pausing when we both heard rustling in the trees behind us. "But you should get behind me."

I did as I was told, my night vision gone due to his light. "Why...What is it?" 

"I don't know." He said, holding his finger to shush me. We stood still for a few minutes, crickets chirping in chorus around us. Finally turning back to me, my brother fixed me with a shrug. "Probably just a coyote or something."

I nodded. "Right just a coyote or something." 

He laughed at my reiteration, whatever worries he had gone in his amusement. “And this is why you don’t go wandering out in the woods alone. Especially this late at night.”

“I thought we were past this, and decided I was an idiot.” I whined. “No more night walks unless I have my Handy Danny with me. Now get us out of here.” 

The false bravado in my voice wasn't as convincing as his was, but then again, he was used to these surroundings. He used to go camping out here with Camden all the time while I spent the night at Lahey's or Isaac would stay with us depending on which parents went out. As for me, I barely went out here during the day.

We continued to move forward, hoping that whatever followed us would find its way back where it came from. I felt myself tense up, knowing it was probably something stupid like a rabbit, not even a coyote, but also worried about what it was. As an attempt to cover up my lost night vision, I grew even more aware of our crunching steps and breathing. My ears strained to hear something, anything that would indicate we were alone again. The whole time, I clutched onto Danny's arm nervously. This only earned me additional teasing, and mutterings of how I was 'definitely lucky' that he found me. The path started to look more well trod, and I picked up the pace, hoping to just go home and sleep. I was tired and really needed to rest if I was going to get any homework done tomorrow. We were just about to reach the entrance when the rustling came back, this time closer, and sounding a lot bigger than a mere rabbit.

I turned to look, but something really big rushed by me, pulling me from Danny and causing me to fall to the ground. I heard him yell, but I couldn't get up. It felt like my body was trapped within itself. I couldn't tell if it was the adrenaline and fear stopping me or something else. I couldn't make anything out since the flashlight fell pointing at me, but I could hear the struggle. Fists were making contact and there was a whipping sound. 

I squinted in the light, my heart ready to rip itself out of my chest. I wondered fleetingly if this was what it felt like to have a heart attack. However, my mind pushed that thought again, as I continued to hear the grunts and growls as Danny fought off whatever was attacking me. Everything blocked out to three things. My heart pounding, the fight off in the distance, and the flashlight causing me to see spots. My body still not doing anything I willed it to do.

That’s when it got quiet. Too Quiet.

Heart still pounding.

Flashlight still burning my retinas even as I tried to blink it away. 

Did I go deaf? Where was the wind, where was my brother?

After what felt like an eternity of silence, I was able to roll onto my stomach, swatting the light away. 

“D-Dan?” I choked out. “Danny are you okay?” 

I could hear my own voice, so that means he had to be there, right? That whatever attacked us was gone? But if that was the case, why didn’t he come over to me? Was he hurt? Too many questions filled my head and my neck hurt from the fall. Picking up the flashlight, I carefully moved it around to get my surroundings. Danny was a few yards away, his breathing erratic. I gulped, trying to make sure the close was clear before crawling over to him. 

“Danny…” I whispered, noticing that he wasn’t moving and that there was a lot of blood. “Danny please say something.”   
I’d reached his shoulder now, my body still sluggish and heavy. He jumped when I touched him gently, lips pulling into a quick grin of relief before it twisted into a grimace. 

“S-Steph-ffff” He gasped, holding onto his stomach with a gasp. “Steph I need you to get in the car. The keys are still in the ignition, or they should be.” 

“Don’t.” I begged. “Don’t you dare tell me to leave you, it’s my fault you’re out here, the least I can do is call an ambulance to get you out of here.” 

“You d-don't ph-phone, remember?” He was struggling to talk now, but he needed to tell me. “Mine got lost in the fight. You get to the car, and if you have to you call 911 on your phone. We’re not too far from the entrance, you can make it.” 

The rustling came back, and I could hear the sounds of more than one person making its way to us. Whatever attacked us came back with company. Danny kept trying to get me to leave, but I was frozen, this time completely due to the fear. I couldn’t see the second figure, but the first one was slowly stalking over, not even slightly hindered by my weak toss of the flashlight.   
I don’t know what happened first, my scream or the shadow with the yellow yes letting out a bone-shaking screech as it approached, and Danny yelling out my name.  
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Derek was looking after his newest ward when he felt an intense stab at his mind. A hand when to his stomach, fingers slick with blood that wasn’t there and a pain that wasn’t his. Despite being in the musty station, the earthy smell of the reserve caked in his nostrils, enveloping him in a dirt. Even as he blinked to straighten himself out, he would occasionally see an unfamiliar redhead glancing down at him in concern. A panic rose in his chest along with a surge of protective instinct that was reserved his betta(s) or family. A name sluggishly worked its way through the haze before the connection was lost, making Derek more confused than ever. 

Stephanie…

The episode was over before he could decipher its meaning, making the alpha gasp as his body was released back into his own control. It had been years since he felt anything like that, and he only knew of one person within range of him that would be doing it. An easy smile and pale blue eyes danced in the foreground of his mind, an old chuckle from happier days tickling at his throat. It all felt so foreign now, with bitter pang of regret cutting through the nostalgia. He didn’t even get a chance to unpack anything from the last five minutes however, since his phone began to buzz in the pocket of his jacket. Slipping a hand down the worn leather, he didn’t even bother looking at the caller ID, bringing the device straight to his face. 

“Conall.” The forced smile disappeared as he remembered he wasn’t being seen. “Been a while.” 

“Don’t get cute with me, Boy. You may be Talia’s kid, but if you don’t keep your word to me I’ll break mine to hers.” The answer was brusque and laced with meaning, making Derek wince slightly. “You and yours would protect mine, and I’d hide our goings on from the law.” 

“I’m aware of this, Con.” Derek grit out, bitter at the lack of trust. “As you know, things haven’t exactly been a cakewalk here.” 

“Oh, I am sure, your family was never subtle.” The comment wasn’t an opinion, but a statement of fact. “But even with all of that, I shouldn’t be waking to episodes like this.” 

“Oh, so you’re local.” He pinched his forehead between his fingers. “Or he didn’t selectively project. It just passed through me too, but don’t worry; I’m on my way there now. I’ll call you when I figure out what happened.” 

“I’ll hear from Daniel what happened myself, it’s my daughter I’m worried about.” There was a heavy sigh that came with the burden of protection. “Involving Tess will just make things worse, I don’t want her to find out through trauma.” 

“You know better than anyone that such things are out of our control.” The younger man glanced across the station at the teenager that was currently going through the very same thing. “But I’ll do what I can.” 

“Fine. Have Daniel call me as soon as he can.” 

“Fine.” 

Both men hung up their phones without further word, the Hale making his way to the forest to save someone who wanted nothing from him. He also realized that he was also shielding another who knew nothing of him and the connection between their families.   
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I awoke with a start, my muscles protesting against the sudden burst of motion and my voice screaming my brother’s name. My heart rate accelerated in panic, quickly looking around to find him. Instead of the cold, dark forest, I found myself sprawled on my bed, the dim rays sunlight flooding my room. My Phone lay charging on my desk across from me, and my backpack sat on the floor. Everything looked so normal until I looked at my side table to find a bottle of water and aspirin next to my clock, the letters too hazy for me to fully make out at the moment.  
Just seeing the items made my throat cry out in thirst and my for all sorts of muscle aches to encompass my body and head. Blinking away the fog from just waking up, I took the pills and downed the water. I needed to find Danny, needed to figure out what happened last night and how long I’d been out for. I focused on the clock again, this time reading the bright red display. If it wasn’t for the sunlight in my room I would think it was broken. The lights spelled out that it was three in the afternoon.  
Before I could process any of that, Danny burst into my room, nearly tumbling over himself as he stopped abruptly to see that I was fine, or at least looked it.   
“Jesus, kid, what’s with the yelling?” He held his chest to slow panic that I could see in his eyes. As he took a couple of breaths, I noticed that he was freshly showered, and looked totally fine. “You’re lucky Mom’s working a double, or she’d have killed you.” 

“I’m more worried about what happened last night.” I frowned, trying to remember all of the details, as I moved to sit up. “And why I’m not at school right now.” 

“You didn’t fall asleep until around four this morning, so I turned your alarm off. My classes were canceled, and like I said, mom was working a double, so I figured it’d be fine.” He shrugged, his voice shaking slightly. “Nothing to worry about, just Big Bro being a bother again.” 

“But...But we were in the reserve and-” I stopped myself, trying to think of the last thing I remembered. “We were heading to your car a-and something came out of nowhere. You were bleeding.” 

Danny sighed, sitting next to me before placing a hand on my knee. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Steph, you came home from work and you went straight to your room making those study guides.” He searched my face as I surveyed my desk to see the meticulous notes sitting on my printer. “Whatever you think happened, must have been a dream, and a bad one at that, since I’m fine.” 

“No, I-I wandered off on my way home.” I insisted, thinking of how my mind was a blank when I left Deaton yesterday. “Lost track of time, until you found me. I even tried to punch you.”   
He chuckled at that, amusement stretching across his face. “You, being violent? That’s how I know it can’t be real.” 

“I’m serious, Dan!” I exclaimed, looking down at my scrubs, and the dirt that was smudged along the knees. “If I was home all night, then why am I all muddy?” 

“You’re a klutz by nature, but I didn’t think you’d forget things that easily.” He shrugged. “You were getting off your bike, and got tilted off balance with the metric Ton of stuff you keep in your bag. I laughed, you pouted, and I made you a sundae for dinner. Typical stuff, Sis.” 

“It felt so real though…” I trailed off, starting to doubt myself. If my brother was here, perfectly unharmed, and insisting that it wasn’t true, I had to believe him, right? “I haven’t had a dream that intense in a while.” 

“Happens when you crash out from sugar and Adderall.” He got up then, giving my knee a quick squeeze. “Get up, take a shower, I’ll make an early dinner, and I’ll help you with your schoolwork. Ma will never find out, and you won’t have to worry about missing a day of school this close to midterms.” 

“Yeah...sure.” I mumbled, sluggishly getting up to grab a change of clothes. “But it still doesn’t make sense.” 

I stood under the hot water, struggling to remember the last twelve hours. I was caught between what I thought I saw and the facts that tied into what Danny said. I was pretty tired after work, and I get into an autopilot when I am studying, vague outlines of books from class tugging at the back of my mind. It didn’t explain the panic I felt when I woke up though, it was as if I was only just experiencing those things, or at least fresh in my mind. Then again, the night before I had that weird dream about me and Isaac, so there was no telling what happened. I needed to eat something, and figure this out.   
I didn’t realize how long I’d stayed there until the water suddenly went cold, sending a shock to my system. Jumping slightly, I turned off the water and toweled off quickly, wrapping myself in fuzzy pants and one of my Dad’s old hoodies. Soon, I joined Danny in the kitchen, trying to put the dream behind me. I had to believe my brother, right? I mean everything he said was certainly true to my personality, and I have definitely lost time during some of the more mundane homework assignments. 

Even as I dismissed it, the doubt still snagged at the back of my mind, forming in a photonegative of eyes with slanted pupils coming toward me.

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Daniel McGrath was many things, a liar being the one he was least proud of. When he had dinner with his little sister the other night, he had seriously considered telling her the truth. The secret to why their parents split, to why Tess was a nutcase. Then as a ghost from his past came and saved their asses, leaving him to stew in her ignorance. With this new threat looming over them, he knew that he should ignore his parents’ wishes and help her to prepare. But he also knew his sister and how heavy she was keyed into people’s emotions.   
Granted the very reason for that was what had him in this issue to begin with. Of course there were episodes that he had to cover; Tess said too much one day, Steph stumbled upon something they hadn’t properly hidden. This though? This was an entirely different beast. 

He felt himself chuckle at the unintended pun, it turning into a groan of shame. How could he be thinking of that right now, when his little sister could have been killed tonight? Even without all of the supernatural reasons, her disappearing into the reserves was unusual. She was a good kid, she didn’t go out often, she worked to help with the house, and she did well in school. So when he looked at the clock to see that her shift had been over for hours and he’d heard nothing from her, he panicked. Finding her bike and things tossed aside in the Reserve didn’t help things.   
He’ll admit that for the interaction he held with her upon finding her made him impressed with his restraint. It took a lot out of him to not pull out all of his abilities with the fight. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do without adding that element to it. He did make sure that he could call for help, almost immediately regretting who answered it. Though, upon seeing his sister’s hand covered in his blood, he was able to push it down. 

Now, he watched as she pretended to accept what he said without a shadow of a doubt. He had made sure to not make their mother aware of what happened, knowing that she couldn’t handle it, but he did talk to their father and have a lengthy conversation about going against Tess’ wishes and preparing Steph for the world that hid underneath the mundane Beacon County. Though they’d reluctantly came to the conclusion to keep her unaware, the younger man couldn’t help but make himself a promise to do whatever it takes to prepare Steph for what was coming. If her friends were any indication; she was going to find out sooner rather than later anyway.


	3. Dubious Encounters

The next couple of days plagued me with dreams that had what I thought I remembered warring against Danny’s narrative. 

Fear, paralysis, and the overwhelming urge to make sure my brother was still even alive cut through me in icy flashes. I knew it couldn’t be fake, those emotions couldn’t have been lies. Even if my mind was playing tricks on me during the day, shouldn’t still be doing this to my subconscious. That’s where the truth, repressed or not should be. I tried to get more information, even thought I found Danny’s shirt from that night scrubbed but still slightly browned from dry blood, but I was shot down every time. My brother’s story stayed the same, with remarks about having better things to worry about. I would insist, but eventually, there was something in Danny’s tone that made me give up trying. 

But I didn’t stop thinking about it. I’d become obsessed and stopped sleeping. It was bad enough that I was starting to get others worried. Meg was giving me sleeping tips as well as advice on how to avoid nightmares while offering to sleep over during the week. I politely declined, but it didn’t stop the worried crinkle in her brow whenever I yawned in class. Scott offered to take a few shifts for me to get my mind off whatever was bothering me, blaming himself for putting so much on me, which I told him wasn’t the issue. Stiles even tried to help me pay attention in class, only to realize I was more prepared than him for the reviews. Still, there was no escaping it as I found myself idly doodling slanted eyes, and would randomly find myself unable to move, panic filling me in mini attacks throughout the week. 

Something wasn’t adding up with Danny, and I couldn’t talk to Mom about it, because, well I don’t really know why. All I knew that she just wouldn’t understand. More like she wouldn’t believe me, but still. Overall, it was a bad week for sleeping, and the fact that my brother seemed totally unaffected by it was driving me nuts.

I yawned, shouldering my bag as I finished up a shift at the clinic nearly a week later. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was ever going to any real sleep at this point. Rubbing at my eyes, I raised my other hand in a wave, barely looking as I walked toward the door. 

“Have a good night, Dr. Deaton!”

“You too, Stephanie, be careful getting home.” Came the reply in a voice so soothing I almost drifted off where I stood. “And maybe get some rest?”

“I’m not too far, and I’m not driving.” I assured him, turning to give a small smile at the face poking around the corner. “And I’ll do my best, midterms might get in the way though.” 

“Alright, give your Mother my best.” He conceded, retreating into the examination room after I gave a small nod, effectively ending the conversation. 

Leaving the Animal Clinic, I looked upward and out into the overcast sky. The clouds and air threatened rain, but hopefully I’d make it home first. Thinking about Deaton’s request, I thought back to the last time I’d talked to my mother. She’d been busy this week, looking more tired than usual in the mornings, if she even got up before we left. Danny even mentioned that she had been pulling twenty-four-hour days, only coming home for a shower and change of clothes. At least I knew that my work ethic was from both sides of the tree and not just one. Danny on the other hand, seemed to have a break from school and work, constantly being home whenever I am. 

As if knowing that I was thinking about him, I got a text from my brother asking if I wanted anything from the local diner on his way to the house. I frowned, knowing he was going to quiz me into a coma again like he’d been doing all week to help me prep for midterms, though I had a feeling it was to prevent me to from questioning him. My brain was still sluggish from all the math and chemistry we did last night, so I declined fast food, instead requesting caffeine in whatever form he’d get me before pulling my bike from the rack. From there, I just focused on getting home, only pausing when the wind, pulling over to untie my hoodie from my waist. I slipped on the sleeves, shivering as the cold fabric moved over my bare arms. It was when I went to pull the hood over my head that I saw Isaac.

Any bemusement I felt about the situation was cut off by a realization that he was biking way more frantically than someone trying to escape the impending rain. He also was riding away from his house instead of toward it. 

That’s strange… I felt my hands clench around my handlebars. Then, without even thinking about it, I stood on my pedals to get myself a running start. I’m not sure why I was doing things, given that I was still haunted by my last detour, but still I went, pedaling harder when I caught a car following us. We were starting to move away from the direction of my house, but I kept going anyway. Then he checked behind him and I saw it; a look of absolute terror across his face that shook me to my core. I could feel myself tense up and glance around in a panic. In my sweep, I saw something that caused my eyes to widen in confusion and awe. Why was Isaac running away from his father…or better yet, why was Mr. Lahey chasing him?

Fighting past my own trepidations, I found myself slowing slightly, placing myself between the two Laheys. I don’t know what kind of buffer I was hoping to provide, but it seemed to work, the car unsure of which biker to follow. It was when Isaac turned down an alley that I knew the jig was up, and followed, jumping off my bike to avoid hitting his abandoned one. As I made my way down the dark pathway, my brain seemed to finally catch up with my actions, causing me to rapidly question what the hell I was thinking following Isaac as he ran away from his only family. I mean, yes, we’re still friends; and yes, I still may care, but yesterday’s conversation wasn’t really an invitation to enter whatever kind of situation this was.

“Isaac?” I finally whispered, wringing my hands in my sleeves as I broke the silence. “Hey, it’s Steph, I saw you biking and-” And what? You decided to follow him because he looked like he was losing an unfair game of tag? “Look, I just want to make sure you’re okay. Isaac?”

My response was the squealing of tires as Mr. Lahey finally caught up to us. Not wanting to be caught, I ducked behind a dumpster, peering around the corner to keep an eye on everything. And then the rain hit, adding the challenge of not reacting to it. As it grew in intensity, I started to lose visibility, which made doubt set into my bones. Maybe I’d misread the situation? Maybe I should avoid making a scene and leave? Maybe I could just walk out, and everything will be fine, just say I was caught in the rain or something. Maybe we could even all ride back to my house, and they could go on their merry way, not hard feelings. A thousand maybes swam through my head, but I could feel deep within myself the absolutes; I was in too deep at this point. 

I gulped, shaking my head clear of the false hope. I know what I was feeling, forget how or why, but I felt it: Pure Anger against Unbridled Fear. I focused on the opening of the alley, the creak of the car door pulling my attention back to what was happening. I could just barely see the man that was without a doubt Isaac’s father step out. I felt my head go in circles as I tried to justify this situation. Had what I mentioned to Isaac a week ago been right? Were my dad’s accusations the reality? Maybe this was way we stopped talking to them all those years ago. But why would we abandon Cam and Isaac like that? 

I jumped out of my thoughts as Mr. Lahey shouted out for his son, my pulse quickening with fear at the authority in his voice. He pauses making me look in the same direction as him, there was no response, leading to a pause where we both held our breath. Squinting to see past his rain covered glasses, Mr. Lahey tried again, a question in his voice as if he doubted it himself. 

I continued to hold my breath, the alley holding not a response, but a large figure. I felt an ice-cold chill run through me, only this time it wasn’t the rain; it was cold familiarity from the shadow. I felt myself tense, my body fighting against whatever fight or flight reflexes I had. I was a prisoner in my body again, my ears ringing with my own faded screams. Letting out a forced sigh from the freely started gasp, I relaxed only slightly with the realization that it was just a memory from that confusing night and not current. 

Flashes of light, and of Danny being hurt flooded my vision, making me squeeze my eyes shut to try and remove the visions from my head. I knew that this was what attacked us in the woods, there was no denying it, no Danny to hide it away in lies. I didn’t know what it really was, but I know I was running headfirst into it without even trying. Danny may be fine, but something was wrong here, and as scared as I was, I need to find out what it was. What the hell is happening? Where’s Isaac? Peeking around the corner, I felt myself pale from the look on Mr. Lahey’s face as he puts his glasses back on from attempting to dry them and claps, reaching our bikes. 

“Okay that’s enough.” Mr. Lahey’s voice broke me free from my personal trance I kept finding myself in. “Leave whoever you’re with. Let’s Go.” 

As the alley held no response, I was tempted to come out of my hiding spot and explain that I wasn’t with him, but that I had happened upon him. Though really that was the truth, explaining my current position would make no sense whatsoever, so all I could really think of was saying that I really needed to get home. My phone sat silent next to me, the low battery warning flashing briefly across the screen. As I did nothing, Mr. Lahey only got angrier; his voice hardening as he was ignored. 

“I said leave your little friend, grab your bike, and let’s go.” 

Part of me understood why Isaac was still hiding, but I feared for all three of us if he didn’t reveal himself soon. Finally, hoping that maybe he’d show up if he knew he wasn’t alone, I started to stand up, pushing past my terror to remind myself that I had control over my muscles. I straightened behind the dumpster and listened as Mr. Lahey started to pick up that maybe Isaac wasn’t the who he was talking to. My eyes scanned the back, hoping to find him first as his father’s voice shifted from rage to uncertainty. I couldn’t make out any shapes and decided right then and there I was going to intercept. Taking a step forward, I was slammed back by something moving faster than me. This time, I could still move, and adjusted, determined to see what the hell I was dealing with. 

Unfortunately, I only barely caught sight of a scaled tail flicking out of sight before there was scrambling overheard. A wave of terror passed through me, and I pressed myself against further into the wall, staying as still as possible so that whatever was in the alley would ignore me. The screeching of the door pierces through Mr. Lahey’s shouts. They were brief rabidly replaced with the fair more defining sound of something rending flesh and crushing bone. I covered my mouth quickly, trying to keep my whimpers of fear unheard. 

I once again found myself in a situation where it was quiet, but too quiet; no calls for help, no ragged breathing; no sound save for the pouring rain. I waited a few painstaking seconds, willing my body to calm itself so I could make an escape. After I felt that it had worked enough, or at least that I couldn’t wait any longer, I pushed myself up trying to calm my breathing and nerves as I moved, slowly, so as not to be noticed by anything still there. Looking around me, I moved towards my bike, whispering for Isaac, or Mr. Lahey to answer me. As I reached the bikes, I looked back and forth, satisfied that whatever was here had left. Whatever the hell it was...it was dangerous. 

“M-Mr. Lahey?” I call out louder t, moving nervously towards the car. I looked behind me. Do I call for Isaac? Or would it just be risking him too?

There was no response, the rain is falling harder as I questioned my sanity and whether I should run. But there was only one way out, and I was heading right towards the last person who tried to leave. I steeled myself, trying to bolster myself up, “Come on, McGrath. You need to leave before whatever the hell Danny is trying to make you forget is in your face, instead of the periphery.” I pushed forward, trying again, my voice not as strong as I would like it to be. “A-are you okay? Can anyone hear me?”

Still, there is no response, the car door laying right next to the silver vehicle on the ground and the side of the car shredded with blood everywhere. I couldn’t see Mr. Lahey or the state he was in, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to from this preview. I turned to get my bike, deciding it was time to leave now. Just as I turned, I crashed into something, letting out a gasp and closing my eyes, hearing someone let out a small grunt of shock. Opening my eyes, I collapsed into myself, glad to see that it wasn’t whatever attacked Mr. Lahey. I felt my fist lower, unsure of when I’d even raised it. Maybe Danny was right, I need to stop trying to hit my way out of things. 

“Jesus Christ! Isaac” I breathed, looking up at him, “You scared the shit out of me! What the hell is going on? Are you okay? Did that thing get to you too?” It all came out in one breath, my eyes scanning our surrounding quickly, before I frantically looked him up and down. “You’re not hurt are you?” 

“Woah, woah Steph; slow down, just take a breath.” His hands found themselves on his shoulders, their warmth sending shiver down my body. He saw this and pulled away, an apologetic look on his face. “One thing at a time…”

“And where do you suppose we start?” I choked out, rubbing at my arms to warm, and possibly steady, myself. 

“Well…” He ran his hand from his forehead to the back of his head, releasing a bunch of droplets of water trapped in his curls. “Maybe with…why you’re here?”

I gulped, nodding slowly, “Right, well, I was heading home from work- I bike down this way- and I saw you all freaked out, and wanted to make sure you were okay, then your Dad…” 

Isaac gave me a look of confusion. “You wanted to check on me?” He shook his head, more water escaping the ends of his corded ringlets. Waiting until I nodded, he continued. “Why’d you continue following after you saw my dad?”

Giving up on warming myself, I hugged my shoulders to make myself smaller. “Well… when someone is running away from their parent, it doesn’t necessarily spell a happy situation, does it?” 

He sighed, avoiding my gaze briefly before nodding, “No, uh, I suppose it doesn’t.”

We stood there in silence for a while, as if waiting for our heartbeats to quiet down, to reach a regular pulse rate. Eventually, he just shook his head, looking to the car, “Did you get a look at what did this?” 

“I-I don’t know, it knocked me down when I moved to show myself.” I ran my hands back up and down my arms, shivering from shock more than the cold. “But...whatever it was? It was big.” 

I stared back at the car briefly before looking back at Isaac. As I did, he started to move towards the car, and I grabbed his sleeve. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

He looked down at me where I was frozen, looking just as frightened as I did. “No…. but I-I need to see if he’s okay.” 

“Okay is definitely not a word I would use to describe him right now. Best-case scenario has him in the ICU, and I don’t think you need to see that. I stopped, shaking my head as his eyes pleaded me to continue, “But to be honest, I lack any ideas on what to expect.” 

“Well, whatever happened, he’s my dad...I have to help him.” He looked back at the car, moving slowly.

“Right…” I nodded dumbly, not sure if I should tell him that even if his dad was okay, we had bigger things to worry about. Either way; This can only end badly.

Still, I nodded slightly and followed him, so that he didn’t have to do this alone. As we approached the car, I noticed all the blood again. It was everywhere. On the ground, around the car, against the windshield. All of it, covered in thick red liquid. Even taking in all that didn’t even begin to prepare me for what I was about to see. I held my hand over my mouth to keep back the scream that threatened to spill from my lips.

Isaac’s dad was strewn across the two front seats, his back bent awkwardly over the cupholders and gear shift. His eyes were open still; the glasses slightly askew on the bridge of his nose with a look of horror across his face. It was scratched up, claw marks going along his cheeks, but the worst of it was in his chest and stomach. They were torn apart, but there was so much blood pooling on his sweater and mixing with the rain that I couldn’t tell just how bad it was, or what the injuries even were. I could tell one thing though: Isaac’s father was murdered. I grabbed into Isaac’s sleeve, trying not to faint. I need to think...I need to thi-no. We need to leave. 

I gulped closing my eyes and opening them slowly, “Isaac, we need to get out of here.” I tore my eyes away from the nightmare to look at him, to see him in the same state I was, a far-off look in his eyes. I tried again, calling his name, but he didn’t snap out of it. Finally, I shook his arm, making my voice strong. “Isaac!” 

He looked down at me and then at my hand on his shoulder, making me remove it in a sign of surrender. “Get your bike and let’s get out of here. Now. Someone is bound to have called the cops and we can’t be here when they show up. Especially you.” 

“How are they even going to-” He choked, his eyes getting glassy. “Who’s going to-”

I pointed around the area, “Something tells me with the amount of noise we just heard? Someone is bound to have made a call already. If not, I can make a call myself.” I turned toward the bikes, pulling mine up as he stood numbly. “Look, do you have somewhere to go? Being at home could either make or break you...depending on if your neighbors saw anything.” 

“Uh, yea…I-I’ve got a friend’s place I could go to.” He walked over and picked up his bike, still not really reacting to anything. Not that I can really blame him right now. 

“Can you get there alright?” I looked at him worriedly, and he held my gaze for a few seconds, both of us not sure what to do. Suddenly my phone rang, causing both of us jump when my pocket started to play Danny’s ringtone, “Shit! At least it’s going off now... one second,” I pulled the phone from my jeans and to my ear, “H-Hello?”

“Oh, thank god you answered this time.” My brother sounded slightly worried, but mostly relieved. “Where the hell are you?! I texted you half an hour ago, the clinic isn’t that far from the house.” 

At the mention of ‘this time’ I felt anger and guilt boil in my gut. That’s right, the last time I saw whatever the hell I’m seeing, he tried to tell me I dreamed it. I spent a week with nightmares of something only for it to show up all over again. The fear burned away with the betrayal, but I kept my voice steady, not needing him to know that just yet. 

“Sorry, Dan, I just ducked somewhere when the rain hit harder. I don’t have my night lights on my bike yet, so I didn’t want to hit anything.” I took a breath, looking away from the look that Isaac was burning into my forehead. “Didn’t realize you were timing me, I’ll head back now, just…don’t continue the timer, yeah?”

“I’m not-” Danny sighed, his voice trailing off. “I’m just making sure you’re safe is all. There was all that craziness a few months ago, and now you’re acted strange…I’m allowed to be worried.” 

“Of course, you are but this is helicopter parenting.” I forced a laugh, feeling the weight of the evening push against the floodgates of my vision. “I’ll see you soon, okay?” 

“Yeah, sure. Be careful.” 

I agreed before hanging up, moving to my bike. “Okay, I have to get home, but do you- I mean should I at least go with…with you part of the way?”

Isaac, pulled up his bike, looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face, “No uh... I’m fine. You get home...I’m going the opposite direction anyway.” 

I tried to smile, but it fell flat, the idea of going home terrifying me. Back to the home where my mom didn’t care, and my brother was hiding things from me. I bit my lip, trying to find the words to say. “Just- just stay safe, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

He nodded slowly, and I took off, hoping to whoever would listen that he would get somewhere safe, knowing that there was no such place for me. 

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“I mean what the hell is your problem, kid? I had just gotten one of those automated calls to say they finally find the Martin girl, and I realized that you weren’t home yet. I know you’ve been off the past few days, but you really need to be more careful.” 

I nodded, wringing my hair out over the bathroom sink as Danny loomed at the door frame. Mom was gone to work already, so I didn’t even get the benefit of an unknowing buffer. No, instead, it was just the two of us. The irony that I usually I loved this, didn’t escape me, but I was wired, tired, and desperate for sleep. With everything that’s happened this week, I’d rather deal with my mom than be alone with my overprotective liar of a brother. Picking at my soaked clothing, I pushed past him to get into my room, closing the door between us. 

“I didn’t realize I was going to take so long... sorry to ruin your evening.” I mumbled, barely even sure if he could hear me through the barrier I just made. I went to my dresser, pulling out a baggy sweatshirt and my warmest pajama pants. 

“You didn’t ruin anything, I just… you know I worry about you.” His back rubbed against the door as he sat down, clearly not leaving me alone any time soon. 

“So you’ve been saying since I walked through the door.” I said, unable to keep the bitter tone from my voice. I felt myself muttering before I could even stop myself. “Pretty funny considering the nightmare we lived the other day was ‘only my imagination’ if you have your say.” 

“What?” I paused as I pried my scrubs off, wincing at the newly forming bruises from when I hit the wall. And maybe at the tone he used as he implied that he had in fact heard me.

“Nothing, Dan, just restating the whole helicoptering thing I said on the phone.” I deflected, shivering as the warm clothing whispered its way down my body. “But, if you’re gonna insist on keeping it up, I’m decent now.” 

There was an uneasy silence between us as whatever went through his mind distracted him and I tried to calm my own thoughts. I don’t know how long I sat in my bed before Danny finally pushed the door open, but the sound of him walking in was enough to make me jump. Looking up from my hands, I felt a pang of regret dig itself into my throat. He was standing in his own pajamas, two bowls of ice cream in his hands and his portfolio of dvds tucked under his arm. There were a thousand things in his eyes: Give me a break, At least I pay attention, I’m sorry, I love you…I’m just worried.

Please don’t shut me out like Mom does to you. 

I sighed, moving down the bed to make room from him and accepting the frosty treat from him. I wasn’t going to let go of this anger, but until I found out what it was, I couldn’t let him know about it. I needed to catch him in the lie or get him to slip up somehow. 

“I’m glad that Lydia is back home… and I’m sorry to worry you a second time this week.” I thought back to Isaac and how shocked and scared he looked. I hope he is doing better than me... I shook my head, taking a small bite of the cookie dough he’d brought. “Midterms and all that…” 

I knew the excuse was lame, and I doubted he was going to let it go, but like me he kept his thoughts to himself. Nodding he adjusted himself to be more comfortable. “Let’s skip the studying tonight then. Pick a movie.” 

I did, finding some stupid movie we’d seen a thousand times and leaning into him, trying to ignore my anger and just let his calming prescience have its usual effect over me. At this point, I was just hoping the drain from my fading adrenaline would finally let me sleep. I was honestly didn’t know if it would work, but I was so tired, and scared, I couldn’t do anything but curl into Danny’s side. But even the familiar warmth of my big brother wouldn’t stop me from thinking about a pair of haunted blue eyes or quiet my mind that was plagued by questions.

What happened tonight?  
What was going to happen tomorrow?  
What can I do?  
How is Isaac going to survive this?  
How am I going to survive this?


	4. Chapter 4

_The rain fell in a thick curtain that, once paired with the dark of the night, made it nearly impossible to see. The streetlights at the end of the alley provided a dim glow, but I was standing alone and exposed. My breathing was erratic as my body was simultaneously shaking while frozen in place. My head was in a whirl, feeling anger and fear fighting inside it, unable to find the sources. Suddenly, an ungodly shriek caused me to jump, looking behind me. And there it stood._

_Yellow eyes with a slit pupil gazed at me, a noseless face at the front of a crouched figure. There was no heir or clothing, just scales that had a greenish hue in the dim light, a tail curling at its feet. It blinked once, it’s snake like membranes not covering the stare. When it opened it’s mouth to scream again, jagged teeth revealed themselves in a sinister threat._

_Adrenaline kicked in, my body jerking slightly as I tried to make it move, my eyes glancing around for something to deter the beast in front of me. There wasn’t much around, resulting in me throwing a trash can lid at it feebly like it was an oversized frisbee. It moved easily to dodge it, but I still used the opportunity to run, slipping in a puddle a few yards down. My body was trembling as I tried to pull myself up, the thing’s shadow growing bigger behind me. I glanced a look to see how close it was, getting a ice cold glare that made it abundantly clear it didn’t appreciate my efforts. Daring me to keep fighting, or to make another move, any move._

_But I didn’t: I couldn’t._

_Instead scrambled in a crawl until I could pull myself onto my feet, trying to find someone to help, or an escape, whichever came first. I turned full tilt in front of me, my heart pounding in my ears as I tried to ignore the sounds of it snarling and chasing after me. Suddenly, something strong wrapped itself around my ankle, causing me to fall right in front of the car that was so teasingly close. The taste of freedom burning in my tongue, I started to grab anything and everything around me, throwing debris in the things direction, kicking my hand free from the tail. My lungs were on fire as I screamed for help. a large, scaled tail whipped forward, wrapping itself around my ankle and making me fall. I screamed for help, clawing at the ground as it pulled me closer to it. I turned onto my back, bile rising in my throat as I saw Mr. Lahey’s body hanging out of the car in front of me. Eyes forever open and terrified._

_I felt my throat constrict, but no sound came out with this last scream as those terrifying eyes covered my vision, claws dragging down my chest._

I jolted upright in my bed, panting and holding my chest as I tried to calm my nerves. I don’t know what it is with dreams this week, but I was not enjoying it. Once my breathing was under control, I dropped my hands, confused when I saw smudges of charcoal on my fingers. Looking around, I didn’t see anything, no sign of me drawing in my sleep or even a piece of charcoal, Danny’s DVD collection the only proof of last night’s activities. Shaking my head, I turned my alarm off, knowing there was no way I was going back to sleep at this point. Knowing I should shower before heading out, I gathered my things in preparation, I dropped them on the floor in the bathroom and stumbled to the kitchen. I needed something to calm me down, but I also knew that I needed to stay awake, and to stay alert. 

Grabbing some tea, I microwaved a cup of water quickly, dunking the bag in as I waited for it to properly steep as well as cool. My leg kept bouncing as I sat at the table, gnawing on my thumb as the minutes ticked by. After I’d deemed it long enough, I pulled the tea out, using a spoon to bring it over to the garbage bag. I opened it, but finding it to already be full, I set the items on the counter as I sighed. Removing the lid, I yanked on the flaps to get the bag out, resulting in a few items falling out. I dropped the bag next to the bin, kneeling to clean it up. A couple of wrappers crinkled in my grasp without me really looking, but something round slipped between them, and rolled a way slightly. Knowing it was far too small to be a can, I looked back down to find a black stick rolling to clump of paper. I bit my lip before standing with the items in my hand. 

I slowly unwrapped it, my fingers getting further stained as it revealed the cause. Letting out a gasp, I watched as the clump was revealed as several pieces of paper, smudged and stained with images. Images from my dream and from last night, there were words scratched along the pages in places, shadows and a car, but the scariest thing was the eyes scrolled all over the place, staring at me unflinchingly as I dropped the charcoal, most of the papers slipping out of my grasp as well. I had never done this before, hell, I haven’t had dreams I could remember since I was a kid, too tired after a long day of housework, homework, and other tasks to remember whatever my subconscious cooked up each night. This week, however, this week was tormenting me with too many terrifying things for me to ever want to sleep again. Taking a few deep, slow breaths, I tried to stop my body from shaking and calm my nerves that ramped back up. I clenched my fists around the page still in my hand, moving toward my room with a new sense of determination. 

I packed a small duffel with my things for today, putting small hotel shower supplies in there with a few towels and my clothes for the day. Changing into some spare gym clothes, I went through my chore chart for today, thankful that Danny seemed to do have done a bunch last night while he was waiting for me. I couldn’t face him yet today, I wouldn’t be able to do what I needed to today. Scrawling a quick note for the table, I hastily cleaned up the mess I’d made so as not to cause any worry. From there it was just making it through school and work. 

School was hell for everyone, so I didn’t need to worry about sticking out there. I might be able to convince Scott to cover for me today, and tutoring was cancelled due to midterms, which would illuminate any unwanted interactions. All I really had to do was make sure that Isaac was alright, then I could dig in deeper to figure out what the hell was going on with me. Hopefully he was better than I was but considering I didn’t just find a parent murdered in their own car, I doubted it. All I had to do was keep my head down, get through the day, and then I could dig. Heading out to school early, loaded with a gym bag and the trash on top of my regular supplies, I stopped at the mirror in the foyer. Boy, this was going to be harder than I thought. 

I took in my sunken yes, wide open as my mind went forty miles an hour thinking about things asnd trying not to think of others. My face as pale and I still looked like I just crawled out of bed. If I looked the bad, how was I going to get through the day? How was I going to try and convince everyone else around me to leave me alone and to keep up appearances? Today was a day that I wouldn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention, but my appearance was a neon sign to look at me. Slowly, I took a deep, steadying breath, staring at myself evenly in the mirror. 

“One thing at a time, Steph, you can do this.” 

I took a deep breath and pushed myself out the door before I could doubt myself. I put the trash in the receptacle on the curb and stuffed my gym bag into my backpack. I paused halfway to my bike, remembering where its brought me the past few times I was in this kind of state. Glancing at my watch, I put my hands on my hips. After hurriedly looking at the weather on my phone, I shrugged, and turned back towards the street. 

“Screw it, the fresh air will clear my head, and I need to get rid of these jitters.” I said, not really sure why I was talking to myself out loud. Then, I got to the sidewalk, turned towards the school, and went. 

I forced myself to take a light jog, reminding myself that I wasn’t running from anything, even though I technically was. When I arrived at the school, I went straight into the girls' locker room. Once I’d showered, the cold water relaxing my muscles while keeping me alert. Screw waiting until I ran during free period, I needed to get rid of the sweat from the night and my discoveries this morning. Thankfully, it was early enough where the sports teams with pre-class practices were still outside, and other students weren’t quite here yet. Though, to be honest, I’m surprised no one called the cops on me, since I’m sure I was quite the vision, running to school this early. And that was why, today I needed to look as put together as possible. If I dressed nicer, than maybe, just maybe, I could I wasn’t be as freaked as I felt. Though a superficial distraction, it was a necessary one.

I took out one of the wall mounted blow-dryers and tried to make my hair fluff out and fixing the waterlogged strands to be more presentable. Discovering I didn’t have a comb or hair bands, I hastily threw a braid at each side of my face, tying them together at the back of my head. Making a mental note toask Meg for a hairband, I moved on to makeup, placing color corrector and concealer under my eyes, and trying to make my face look brighter. Pulling on a few random bracelets I’d left in my locker; I smoothed the layers of my outfit. While it was simple, it was pretty, and controlled. The layered shirts worked well over the jeans, and my sneakers were replaced with a pair of comfy boots. To finish the look, and provide a bit of warmth should I go outside, I had my dark jean jacket on with a grey patterned scarf. I also threw on a small necklace with a charm on it for added measure. It meticulously showed that everything was fine and that I would be okay, even if it didn’t feel that way.

I walked out of the locker room, and moved to my main locker, pulling out the purse kept in there for my pencil pouch and supplies before grabbing my books for the morning. I grabbed my multi-subject binder for when I didn’t want to carry too much and didn’t want to return until after lunch. I knew I would be searching the halls for Isaac until I found him anyway, so I figured it would be better safe than sorry. I needed to make sure he was doing better than me...or maybe I just needed the distraction, the eyes of his father still haunting me as I passed fellow students, either way, my locker was not going to be seeing me as much today. There was only so much I could shove down with my mantra, but I kept it up, closing my eyes as it got to be too much.

“One step at a time, McGrath.” I muttered, pausing in front of my English class with a long-held breath, “You just have to make it through today. You got this.” 

Except I didn’t.

While I had my first two classes with Isaac, every attempt at conversation was dismissed as he sat farther way from then than usual. I tried to catch his gaze a few times, hoping to signal to him somehow that I wanted to talk, but if he noticed he didn’t show it. As soon as the bell rang, he was gone before I could even move, his body taught like an arrow string. If I was a nervous wreck looking for him, I could only imagine what he was feeling for him. Still, it didn’t stop me from constantly keeping an eyes out for him in the halls. And if that wasn’t enough, I was still getting flashes of his dad’s body everywhere I looked. After lunch, there was even a moment where I froze at my locker, those strange yellow eyes from my dream haunting me suddenly when group of lacrosse players went by. 

I didn’t hear Meg approach me, so as soon as she touched my arm, I jolted away, slamming into my locker with a bang. She backed off, wide eyed in concern and confusion. I opened my mouth go apologize, to give some kind of joke to let her know I was fine, but I couldn’t, running off to my math class. Unfortunately, Meg also had that class, so she was hot on my tail. I knew it was too late and the facade had crumbled, making it impossible to avoid anymore. I took a few steadying breaths on my way to sit down, urging my eyes to stop welling up. and to make things worse, she had that class with me. 

“Come one, McGrath, you got this, we’re halfway there.” 

The command was grit out, my hands pulling at my hair to ground me a little more, the braid coming apart in my hand as I waited for Meg to walk through the door and demand an explanation. Almost as if on cue, she arrived a few seconds later, her hands fisted in the long sleeves of her sweater. There was a concerned pinch in her face when she spotted me, making me wince as a feeling of guilt burned in my chest. As she sat next to me, I wasn’t really sure what to do, and I could tell she didn’t either. We never flinched away from each other, and we always knew how to make the other better without even knowing what was wrong. Except this time? I broke the code, I was providing nothing for her to go on, and I was far to squirrelly for her to even think about believing any lies I told her. Finally, after a few more people came in and I had managed to calm down more, she spoke up, her voice soft. 

“Stephanie...are you okay?” She murmured, biting her lip as she tried to gauge my mood, “You’ve been orbiting a different plan all day, and that’s coming from the girl you need to drag back to Earth half the time.” She pointed to herself with a nervous breath of laughter. 

I sighed, offering an apologetic smile. The problem being that she was right. Meg was someone whose brain worked a little too fast for her to handle. She was always thinking about things and ten different points of view on how to solve imaginary problems. It was like someone took my old ADHD and doubled it up with hers, making when she did focus very daunting. But when she couldn’t focus, it was bad, like you need to treat her like a dog and constantly be training her kind of bad. Not that her parents don’t try to be careful with what products she uses, and to figure out ways to negate the side-effects of them all or anything, it just happens. So, she tends to take a simple flatliner, making it so she can go about her day in a haze that got her to focus just enough that it didn’t put her mind into overdrive. As a result, she let her hair frizz out, and hide in baggy old sweaters of her dad’s over jeans and sneakers just to be comfortable. So, when she calls you out on being spacey? She has four legs to stand on in the matter. 

“Yea... sorry about running away like that, Danny just gave me a hard time last night after work. He’s been running me through an academic gauntlet for midterms, and I chucked a Reign with my breakfast and another one with lunch, so, I’m a bit wired and all over the place.” 

I smiled weakly over at her, not lying in the slightest. I vaguely heard her go on about how my heart was going to explode one of these days and laughed it off, almost convincing her. Then Isaac walked in and my body went rigid. Our eyes met briefly, but he looked away quickly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously before taking the seat behind Meg. Which of course, had her grinning like an idiot, and giving me a smug grin.

“Are you sure? Because it looks like it’s Isaac Lahey that’s giving you a hard time.” She teased, eyeing him suspiciously. “What has been going on with the two of you this past week?” 

I felt a bubble of nervous laughter escape my lips as I tried to think of something to say, “What? Pff- As if… you know better than anyone I don’t let boys get in the way...of…” 

I trailed off as I noticed her eyes widened with realization. “What are you thinking, because I can tell you right now, you’re probably wro-’

“There is something going on with you two! I bloody knew it! Spill. Now.” She whispered as our teacher started drawing up the problems on the board. My head whipped around as I looked behind me quickly, slapping her arm to get her to be quiet. 

“Shut up, he’s right behind us!” I hissed, trying to ignore the fact that I only grabbed his attention more. 

“Yeah, sure that’s why you want to avoid the subject.” She smiled rolling her eyes at me, “You don’t even want to talk to your best friend about boys, I see how it is. Guess I’ll just have to ask him myself.” She turned, eyeing me as I raised an eyebrow, not really believing her, “Hey Isaac, I was wonder-”

Flushing, I clasped her hand, “Meg, No!” She grinned wickedly, gesturing with her eyes to finish what she’d started. Taking a deep breath through my nose, I quickly turned to him with a small smile on my face. “Uh, she was just going to warn you that we’re moving our desks next to each other to work on the problems, but with you being tall…well taller I don’t think it’ll be a problem, will it?” 

Meg gave an impressed pout at my lie, moving her desk as I pleaded for it to work. There were a few seconds where his eyes narrowed, his head tilted ever so slightly to the side, as if trying to catch me in the act. Taking a deep breath, I held my hand out to show Meg proving me right, and he finally nodded, slowly, not entirely convinced. 

“Yeah...yeah, It’s fine.” 

“Okay, sorry for bothering you.” I muttered awkwardly, offering him a small, nervous smile, trying to convey that I would explain later before turning to Meg and lowering my voice. “Okay, okay, oh-kay. I wasn’t with him last night, but I did happen across him on the way home.” 

“Brilliant, and then what.” Her concern was lost in the intrigue, making me struggle to come up with a story.

“And-and…” I struggled, getting flustered as I felt two pairs of eyes boring into me. “Well, you know how I am! I tried to talk to him, it went really bad and rambly, so I ran off.” 

“Is that why you’ve been trying to see him throughout the day? To apologize for your awkward streak? Hon, you can’t apologize for something you can’t control.” She pat my shoulder, companionably “I mean, were you at least finally going to tell him that you’ve been harboring a secret-” 

“NO, no….” I said, cutting her off harshly while giving her a meaningful look. “Ixnay on the ushcray with the oybay unless you want me to spill to Stilinski.” She abruptly clamped her mouth shut, allowing me a victorious grin. “That’s what I thought. And besides, even if I did what would happen? I doubt it would work out with Danny on my ass about grades and being safe with everything, do you really think he’d be letting any guy friends in the house?” 

“Well we’re not talking about friends, now are we?” She said with a wink, making me roll my eyes. “Or at least I know I’m not.” 

“You know what I mean. Like you said, I have an awkward streak, and on top of that, when I’m not working on school, I have tutoring, the clinic, and whatever work I have around the house!” I took a deep breath revealing way more than I had wanted to with him so close, but already too far in, “Not to mention the fact that we haven’t really talked in years, and his brother used to be my brothers best friend. But yeah, let me ask him out of the blue, it’ll totally work. Nothing weird about that at all.”

“You are such a downer, maybe your parents should have named you Debbie” Meg laughed, pushing me slightly. “I’m only saying that you are an amazing person on all accounts and he’s cute, so if I was you, I’d snatch him up before someone else does.” 

“Like whom, you? Whatever shall Stiles think?” I pushed her back as she shook her head, the two of us laughing until the teacher looked over at us with a frown, forcing us to at last pretend to go back to our work. After his gaze shifted, I turned back to her, “Look, I’m just...trying to be realistic. And if the past week’s interactions have been any indication, he is not interested.” 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, McGrath,” She muttered, not looking up from her notebook.“I can’t talk you into something that you think is a lost cause...I learned my lesson when I tried to die you hair blonde.” 

“That’s more that I don’t trust you near my head with Bleach.” I said, the two of us laughing at the joke. 

We fell into a comfortable silence, making me relax for the first time all day. I was able to just sit and talk about nothing with her, working on our math work, trying to not think about how much Isaac had heard of our conversation. Soon the bell was ringing, my next class being my free period and finishing the day with Chemistry. Meg walked me to the locker rooms, promising to swing by if the yearabook meeting let out early, skipping to her French class. I waved, feeling lighter than I had this morning as I slipped to the side of the hall and waited for Isaac to come by on his way to lacrosse practice. There was no backing out now, he had to go this way, and I wasn’t going to let him go in without finding out how he was dealing with everything. Or so I thought, until he walked by and my arm grabbed him without even thinking. Judging by his reaction, I could tell he was just as surprised as I was.

“Stephanie…” The tightness in his face fell instantly, his shock more than likely mirroring my own “Sorry I thought you were-” He paused, dropping his fist- huh so that’s that that feels like- and running his hand through his hair, “I mean...I have practice, so I can’t-” 

“Are you for real?” I snapped, shock melting away with anger. I was just worried about you, you idiot! “Hey Steph, sorry I nearly punched you in the middle of the school hallway, but I have practice and can’t chat?”

His jaw clenched, and his face hardened again, anger radiating from both of us now. “Did you need something?” 

I felt a chill at his sudden change in attitude, but pushed on, “Oh I don’t know. How about an update on how you’re doing today? Ya know since I left you at the crime scene of your dead father?” I hissed, lowering my voice so no one could hear me. “I have been trying all day to check on you, but you’ve been perpetually evasive, and...and I know that I’m still freaking out about it...so I just wanted to...check on you.”

All the anger left my body as suddenly as it had entered, my confrontation petering out before I could finish. I gulped, waiting for him to react, or respond, anything to validate what I was feeling. His anger smoothed off his face, regret filling his eyes. And though I could tell it was sincere, I didn’t let it get to me, standing my ground, crossing my arms for good measure. 

“Right, sorry, of course you are, why wouldn’t you be... I’m sorry” He looked down, then back at me, the same concern from last night evident in his face. “I’m just trying to adjust to the… uh, hey, are you okay? Did you get home safe?”

I snorted slightly, “Maybe physically, but my brain had other ideas.” I mutter, shaking my head when I realized I said that out loud, “Or I mean…I was trying to ask you that. You seem kind of off today... and more on edge than I am.” 

He clenched his jaw, slowly losing whatever composure he had, “Yeah well, I’m glad you’re okay, but like I said I have practice, so I’ll see you later, okay?”

I nodded, unable to gauge what was going on with him, “Right, well I have a free period so I’ll just-” I stopped as he turned abruptly and storm down the hall. “Be sitting on the bleachers, being ignored as usual.”

Following his lead, I took a door leading outside, breathing in the cool air with a sigh. Moving to the bleachers, I saw grimaced when I saw Greenburg making out with one of Lydia’s old Lackies turned new It Girl. The two were making quite a show for everyone, making me want to throw condoms at them and offer to pay for a hotel room. Seeing Scott make his way over to the goalie position, I made my way over to Stiles, remembering that I needed to talk to his bestie about covering for me today. Tapping his shoulder, I kept my gaze on Scott and the defensive player that separated him from the slowly forming line of players. 

“Wha-? I didn’t do anything!” He turned, as if expecting someone to yell at him or something, relaxing as he saw me, “Oh...hey Stephanie… what’s up?” 

“Sup, Martin” I said, forcing myself to calm down and remind myself that we were friends. Or at least friendly. Quirking an eyebrow, I gestured to his friend, “I was just coming to see if I could grab Scott before practice, but seems like he’s already out there. Any reason he’s goalie today?”

“Oh that... Yeah, he just wanted to try it out, since he was really good at it last time and as a newly minted co-captain, he figured it would help the team work harder.” He looked back from Scott to the line, “Why’d you need to talk to him?” 

“Oh, just seeing if he could cover for me tonight, ya know, I have a mountain of practice tests to go over from tutoring.” I said, waving him off, “But it can wait, Finstock however, can’t, so you should head out there.”

“What Coach isn’t even-” He jumped when the whistle went off. “Oh my god.” 

“Let's go! Line it up!” Coach Finstock yelled at the team, spurring Stiles back into action, “Faster! Make Daddy proud.” 

Waving him off, I sat where I was, thankful to have the distraction. Or more accurately, the opportunity to attempt a read on Isaac as I observed the practice. As the first player ran forward, though, Scott suddenly rushed forward from the goal and knocked him to the ground. If that wasn’t strange enough, he made a show of smelling the poor guy. I looked to Stiles in confusion, but he avoided my gaze from his spot in line. As if he didn’t want to admit to knowing anything. Not that I could or even would confront him about it, but it was strange all the same. Instead, all I could really do was watch as Coach yelled at Scott, who was helping the player up now, patting him on the shoulder.

“Usually, the goalie stays somewhere within the vicinity of the actual goal.” Coach groused, looking at Scott like he didn’t understand how to play the game. Not that I blamed him of course, he brought up an excellent point. 

Scott nodded, “Yes, coach.” 

I watched him go back to the goal, but then the next person that went forward was met with Scott flipping him onto his back, sniffing as he did before. The third guy was then taken out with his stick, making me question why the guy hadn’t decided to just play as the defensive player. Coach seemed to also be thinking the same thing and wasn’t very happy about it. 

“McCall!” He shouted, “The position's goalkeeper. Not goal abandoner.” 

Scott let out a halfhearted apology, but Coach just went back down the line, shaking his head and ushering the next player forward. The next victim goes to run, but Scott just knocks him down, causing Coach to go talk to Stiles for a few seconds. My current theory being that he was trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with his best friend. Meanwhile, I was trying to catch sight of Isaac, only to realize that I had been right the other day and it was impossible to make out who was who with their facial guards covering their features. Unfortunately, I couldn’t linger on the slightly smug feeling I felt, however, as I looked for his jersey number. As I strained my eyes back on the front of the line I realized, or thought, they’d reached the actual goalie, Danny’s turn. I didn’t bother watching though, knowing it was going to be the same, the crunching of gear on the ground proving me right. Finally, Coach had had enough and pointed to Scott angrily. 

“McCall! You come out of that goal one more time and you'll be doing suicide runs till you die.” Coach groused, clearly having enough of these antics. “It'll be the first ever suicide run that actually ends in a suicide. Got it?”

Scott gave a noncommittal answer, but something told me it wasn’t going to be followed. Coach seemed to think so too, and just let out an exasperated mutter to the affirmative, knowing that he probably wasn’t going to get the guy to listen. Turning to Jackson, who said something to him, he motioned for him to leave the line. I guess his shoulder must still be bothering him from earlier in the season, and they couldn’t risk their ‘star player’ getting injured further. I rolled my eyes, continuing to scan the line, when I caught the worried energy Stiles was giving off. Looking in front of him, I realized why: Isaac. The number fourteen now in clear view, I could almost feel the anger from earlier, that caged feeling that wanted to lash out. I could see it, too, almost like he was steaming with rage, trying to hold it back as he tensed for a fight. I stood up, walking over to the bench, and clenching the metal nervously. What are you planning, Isaac...what’s the play here? Whatever it was, it didn’t look good. 

I watched as he took off with the whistle, Scott charging forward with the same vigor. As he went for the goal, both him and Scott pushed off the ground so hard, they brought up huge clumps of dirt, leaping into the air as they collided. It looked like two animals sparring as they briefly grabbed each other, spinning so that they flung themselves apart. They spun around so that Scott had his back to the line, and Isaac the goal. They were standing on all fours, staring at each other intently until Coach’s whistle seemed to break the spell. Isaac even seemed to slump almost like a puppet cut from its panting as he looked to Scott. 

Suddenly, the sheriff and a couple of deputies showed up, on the field, walking over to Coach. as cops suddenly appeared on the field. Soon, Isaac was beckoned over, joining them as everyone on the field started to swarm around at a distance. Without a second thought, I let go of the bench and marched toward Scott and Stiles. I don’t know what was happening, but if the cops were involved, that couldn’t bode well. With their helmets off, I could see the worry in both of their faces, as well as the fear in Isaac’s.   
As I got closer to them, I heard Stiles tapping at his chin, looking at Scott nervously, muttering to his friend. 

“What are they saying?” 

“His father’s dead…” Scott answered, tilting his head to the side, “They think he was murdered.”

Shit that can’t be good. I paused, wincing as I finally paused enough noticed the divots in my hand from gripping the back of the bench so hard. I hissed, trying to smooth them out as I waited for the two idiots to notice me. Good luck with that, they are in their own littler world. And did…did Stiles ask what they were hearing as if Scott could hear them?

“Are they saying he’s a suspect?” Stiles said, still not noticing that I was eavesdropping on them.

“I’m not sure, why?” Scott turned to him, causing me to do a little finger wave when he saw me. “Uh, hey, Steph! What are you doing here?” 

“Same as everyone else? I was on my free period, watching you guys when I saw Isaac getting pulled over to talk to the Sheriff,” I crossed my arms, “And apparently you can hear them based on Stiles’ demands for a play by play. Or are you just that good at reading lips?”

Both boys looked down and at each other, moving in near perfect sync. They hadn’t expected anybody to walk up to them, clearly, but they were so freaking obvious about it. I waited; my eyebrow raised as they shared an awkwardly silent conversation. Finally, Stiles wrapped an arm around Scott’s shoulders, patting him on the chest with the other. 

“Well if what Scott thinks they’re saying is right…” Stiles looked at Scott meaningfully, “If they think he’s a suspect then they can lock in him a holding cell for twenty-four hours.” He looked at me, holding a hand up with a shrug, “Not that I get what has you so interested out of nowhere, McGrath. I didn’t think you guys really talked anymore.” 

“Not that it’s any of your business, Muhammad.” I grit out, purposely picking a name that was nowhere close to being his real one. “But I’m allowed to be concerned about a fellow classmate. If you didn’t want people to think you were a leading authority on the matter, you two idiots should have been quieter. Now if you’ll excuse me, the bells about to ring, and they’re leaving anyway.” 

I ran off, not entirely sure why I was so offended by Stilinski’s accusation. What I said wasn’t wrong, but he did bring up a good point. I very well could have implicated myself if I wasn’t careful. Now, I needed to try to save Isaac from something that absolutely was not his doing, not than anyone would believe me if I told them what I saw. When I got inside, I waited, figuring they would have Isaac change before questioning him. Sure enough, a few minutes later he came out of the locker room changed out of his uniform. I waved him over, my mind working in circles as I attacked him with questions.

“Hey, are you a suspect? What did they say? Are you alright?” I rambled off, clenching my bag’s strap like a lifeline that would ground me in the storm of worry and fear. “I’m sorry, you’re probably just as confused, and I’m rambling again.” I took a breath, touching his arm slightly to ground myself. When he flinched however, I pulled away, opting to hug myself instead. “Let’s just stick with what did they day… I guess that would be the best question.” 

“I uh...I don’t really know yet,” He paused to run a hand through his hair, looking away as a few boys exited the locker room. “They told me about how they found him…and there was a call last night, but that’s it. Th-then they told me to get changed, and to meet them at the office...something about talking to a few people before doing anything for sure…” 

“Oh...okay…” I ran a hand through my hair, the hair myself. I never did as Meg for a hair tie, I’m sure I looked a mess at this point. But I was past caring, keeping my focus on Isaac. “People...people like who?” 

He leaned against the wall with a sigh, “I don’t know...Jackson, I guess? He lives nearby and I think he was outside when…when I took off on my bike to…” 

He struggled to say the words making me realize that maybe, just maybe it was what I was suspecting. I bit my lip, not wanting to push, but yearning to comfort him. Taking a step closer, I placed a hesitant hand on his arm, waiting until he met my gaze. 

“Look, I’m not going to make you say anything you’re not ready to say, but if there is even a chance that he could make you a subject.” I shook my head, trying to think. “Then I need you to tell them that I was there. You hear me? You didn’t do this, and I’m going to fight tooth and nail to make sure they know that.” 

“Steph-” Isaac started, clearing his throat, “I uh...I don’t understand why would you-” 

“To show you that no matter how bad it was...no matter what he did to you...you’re not…” I cleared my throat as I was hit with a wave of emotion. “You’re not alone. And if Jackson is going to twist it so that you look bad, you need someone in your corner. Besides, it’s not a lie if I actually was there, ya know?” 

I smiled at him, hoping that my sincerity came through, that he was able to take comfort in what I had to say. After a few silent moments, I was worried that I’d said too much, but slowly, he nodded, staring at me as if trying to find something my eyes. Blinking a little, I started to get a little unsure, feeling conflicted out of nowhere. Then, suddenly, suddenly, Isaac was wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into a short, yet strangely prolonged hug. There was something so loud about the gesture, especially when he had flinched at my touch earlier. I had reached him, truly reached him, and there was a trust earned, and a gratitude conveyed. There was so much being said that I didn’t even know how to respond, Overwhelmed as I was. I didn’t even get a chance to react before he released me, leaving me to watch him retreat down the hall in shock.

As he disappeared around the corner and the bell rang, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that this wasn’t the last time I would be hugged by Isaac Lahey. It also scared me a little that I didn’t want it to be either. I wasn’t a touchy-feely person, I barely hugged Meg, and Danny was the only person I really shared any source of physical affection with. Now, I’d do anything to pause time and stay in the bubble of that hug and breath in the feeling.

“One thing at a time, McGrath….it was just a hug.” I said, adjusting my shirts and heading to class, “No need to get your panties in a twist. People hug each other every day.” 

I tried to calm myself, knowing that there was a chance I’d be pulled from class, but also not rushing to get there. As soon as I reached the room, however, I panicked, opening the door to find Harris already at the chalkboard. Luckily, I was waved away before I could even open my mouth to apologize. got into class, Harris was already at the chalkboard. 

“Save whatever poorly orchestrated excuse you have ready for a teacher who will actually have the patience to pretend listening and get to your seat, Ms. McGrath. Though with Stilinski’s imbecilic tendencies seeming to be rubbing off on you, I would suggest trying a seat change next time.” He quirked an eyebrow at me skeptically, “That is, if you find it in your graces to be on time next class.” 

I nodded, not even bothering to respond before shuffling to my desk. Harris in his typical fashion continued on, drawling about how he was rudely interrupted. Of course, when I got there, Scott and Stiles were joint together and whispering to each other, completely oblivious to my existence. Instead of mocking them again, I tried to ignore them, keeping my mind on the notes. Granted, I was so worried about Isaac, that my mind wandered a bit, allowing me to catch the conversation next to me. I really need to stop…but they aren’t exactly subtle about it either. 

Scott’s voice was hopeful, no doubt his doe eyes big and bright as he looked at his best friend, “Doesn’t being a teenager mean your dad can’t hold him?”

Out of the corner of my vision, Stiles played around with his pencil “Well….not unless they have solid evidence.” He looked upward, coming to a realization “Or a witness.” 

“Yeah, and?” I said, letting them know they weren’t as slick as they though while he whipped to look behind us. I glanced at Scott. “You guys need to work on your private conversations more.” 

Scott laughed awkwardly, the two of us turning to see Stiles addressing Danny. “Wait. Danny… Where’s Jackson.” 

I bit my lip, already knowing the answer as the Goalie answered, looking at Stiles like he was an idiot. “In the Principal’s Office, talking to your dad.” 

Stiles leaned towards him more, “What? Why?” 

Since they were behind me in the information wheel, the irony of which didn’t escape me, I turned back to my notes. Harris, however, snapped my attention forward when he called my name. 

“It would seem you’re needed elsewhere at the moment. Please take your things and head to the office.” 

I nodded, scrambling to get as much information down as possible before taking out my homework and grabbing my things. Looking at Stiles and Scott’s faces, I just shrugged, not willing to give them anyr understanding what was going on. Let’s see how they like it. Keeping my head down, I paused at Harris’s desk and slid him my homework, pausing when he placed a hand on my wrist. I looked to see him eyeing me over his glasses, a stern expression on his face. 

“I suggest you don’t make this a habit Ms. McGrath. Tardiness I can tolerate with some form of grace, but leaving my class is something I will not. Make sure to read the next chapter, take notes, and fill out the review.” 

“Yes, sir.” I gave him a tight, embarrassed smile, and went straight into the hallway.

I walked slowly towards the office where Jackson was giving the police exactly what they needed. Holding my head high, I prepared to help, just like Isaac needed. My hands were clenching and unclenching, and I could feel my stomach twisting in knots, but I was willing to do it. So, finding the door closed, and following the receptionist’s prompting, I sat down in a chair outside. I tried to keep my breath steady as I watched a few students walk down the hall, but couldn’t stop the exasperated sigh that escape as the Sweet and Aggravating showed up, throwing themselves into the chairs to my immediate left. They didn’t even say anything to me, opting to lean against the windows, not bothering to hide their eavesdropping. Before I could comment though, before the sheriff spoke up, bringing my attention elsewhere. 

“Listen to me,” The Sheriff’s voice was incredulously, “You're telling me that you knew Isaac's father was hitting him?”

“Hitting him? He was kicking the crap out of him.” 

Despite how matter of fact he was, or maybe because he was so matter of fact, I felt an overbearing desire to kick Jackson’s teeth in. My hands balled into fists around my bag, my knuckles white as the Sheriff shared my disbelief. 

“Did you ever say anything to anyone? A teacher...parents…..anyone?” I bit my lip knowing that if it didn’t effect Jackson’s immediate life, it didn’t matter. In spite of everything he’s been through in life, he’d rather just skate along in his own cloud of egomania. It made me sick to my stomach that he could have said something at any point and prevent all of this from happening. But then again, that was the Jackson Whittemore style. 

“Nope.” I closed my eyes, wishing I couldn’t see his smug face. “It's not my problem.” 

He let out an uncaring sniff and I let out a puff of air through my nose, making Scott look at me strangely. I shook my head, leaning my head back to indicate what I was reacting to before reigning to play with my fingers until I was called. 

“You know, it's funny that the kids getting beaten up are always the ones who least deserve it.” Stile’s dad sad, making me smile at the jab. At least he understood. 

“Yeah.” Then he realized what was said, “Wait, what?” 

“I think we’re done here.” Stiles and Scott turned to face the hall, the former scrambling to grab a Rio magazine from the table next to him. The sheriff opened the door then, ushering Jackson back to class. Upon seeing his kid, he just looked at him with an unsurprised expression, looking to Scott instead. 

“Hi, Scott.” He greeted the teen, smiling kindly. 

Scott smiled slightly embarrassed, “H-yea.” 

I sighed, shifting in my seat as his gaze fell on me, “I take you’re Stephanie McGrath?” 

“Uhm,” Standing up, I sighed, “Yes sir…” 

He noticed how worried I looked and had me follow him, the boys looking at me strangely. I was thankful that whatever went down, Mr. Stilinski wanted to at least attempt to keep them out of it. I mean, I know that Stiles would find out anyway, but the effort was nice. Stopping around the corner, he rubbed at his nose with his thumb. 

“Do you have any idea why you were sent to me, Ms. McGrath?” 

“No sir, I was just pulled out of my Chemistry class and sent here.” I said, playing with the ends of my scarf as I tried to keep my composure. “Though, that’s a lie, I guess I do have an idea, just not sure it’s the correct one.” 

Giving me a look, entirely too used to rambling thanks to Stiles, the sheriff nodded, waiting for me to continue. I bit sighed, avoiding his gaze as I spoke up. 

“It has something to do with Isaac, right? Since I was with him last night?”

He nodded, his shoulders slumping as if he was hoping I would deny it. I stood firm, not caring at the moment what Danny would say, or how furious my mother would be. Right now, I needed to stand up for my friend, and keep my promise. Seeing that I wasn’t giving in, the sheriff sighed, waving over a deputy as he ran a hand down his face. Once his associate reached him, he looked at him, avoiding my gaze entirely.

Speaking with a reluctant tone, he looked at me before heading down the hall. “Officer Howard, could you please secure Ms. McGrath and while I grab Lahey boy? They’ll both be coming with us.” 

Howard nodded, “Miss, I need to you put your hands behind your back and give me your bag.” 

“He didn’t do it.” I said, complying with the instructions. “I swear, he’s innocent. 

He didn’t answer, just placed the cold circles of arrest to my wrist, effectively shackling me as he spoke an even worse response. “Stephanie McGrath, you are being brought in under suspicion of being an accomplice to murder. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you…” 

My hearing tuned out, my ears ringing as I was arrested in a high school hallway for trying to do the right thing at the absolutely wrong time.


	5. Illusions Brought to Moonlight

What they don’t show in the movies or television shows is that handcuffs are incredibly uncomfortable when you’re sitting in the back of a squad car. They don’t tell you that while there is chatter on the radio, it is eerily silent while you refuse to say anything, and the cop isn’t exactly a chatty uber driver. They don’t tell you how, no matter how much you shift around, and try to adjust, your wrists are going to hurt and there are going to be two sore spots on your back from where the arch of each cuff dug into the skin. And what they never tell you is that even if you are willing to do this, or even prepared to do this, you can never stop the swirl of insecurities that fly through your head at speeds that are illegal for cars. 

Instead, I had the distinct pleasure of discovering such things myself. I did not turn behind me to see if anyone saw me getting arrested, meaning I didn’t see if Scott or Stiles found out about my involvement or not. Nor did I think about what the administration would say to my family. In fact, my family was the last thing on my mind presently, since I now had to figure out how the hell I was going to defend Isaac without ending up trapped at my mother’s job. Yes, I was there, yes, I can confirm that his innocence, but how? Who do I say did it instead, or do I try and blame it on the mass of animal attacks that were our explanation in previous months? 

Everything was happening so fast that I couldn’t really get a grasp on any of these things. Instead, I was pulled from the car and into the station, extra care being made to make sure that Isaac and I didn’t interact or stand near each other for more than a few seconds. I could tell he was a little surprised by the development, or at the very least not expecting me to be brought in as well. I knew that as going to happen, I’ve watched enough shows to know that as a key witness as well as his alibi I had to be brought in. Instead of explaining this, or lying about sharing such confusion, I simply offered a small smile, and did my best to convey that I held no regrets as well as would keep my word. 

Soon, we were being pulled into separate interrogation rooms, and I’m sure we were at opposite ends of the station at this point. My guess was so that we didn’t come up with any kind of falsehoods on the off chance that we did do it. I don’t know how long I had waited, or if I was the first one they interviewed, but nothing prepared me to say anything helpful whatsoever. They didn’t tell me too much about what they knew, or mention my family at all, too busy trying to establish a timeline of events. I ignored the sentiment that they were simply trying to understand what happened, and told them as much of the truth as I could. I was at work until Six Thirty last night, and then I went home taking the longer route on the off chance that anyone needed me to pick something up. I mentioned the text to and from my family group chat, even offering my phone to show them. Granted, they didn’t have a warrant for anything, and at the moment they were just asking questions, but I figured if I was as helpful as possible, my innocence would be clear. 

I went on to detail that Isaac and I crossed paths since we were both biking on the same street. We paused briefly to talk, Isaac’s dad nowhere in sight, and as far as I knew, not interacting directly with Isaac while I was in his company. While technically true, I was uncomfortable with the twisting of events, hoping that they didn’t see through my omission. Losing track of time, I got a call from my brother, forcing us to part ways, and me taking care with the rain. I knew it wasn’t an ideal testimony for them, but I was only concerned about helping Isaac, not caring if what I had to say hurt or aided their investigation. Besides, this was the most neutral choice. I could lie, and subsequently get all of us in further trouble, or I could tell the truth which, frankl, wasn’t an option. In fact, I’m pretty sure the officers would have thought I was crazy or making up stories to help Isaac. So, instead, I gave them a mundane statement that showed nothing. They even tried to get more out of me, giving me directed questions, but I kept to my information, not straying from it, or just not answering

After a while, I could only guess that they felt bad, that I must have been in shock or something because they offered my phone call. I almost refused, but then realized that I hadn’t talked to Danny all day, and despite the anger boiling in my gut at the betrayal from this week, I accepted. They lead me to one of their desks, giving me some privacy in the form of staying two desks away from me. I thanked them, dialing the house with shaking fingers. It rang once, twice, three times before clicking. 

“Hi, you’ve reached the McGraths, we’re not available right now, but if you need us, you probably have our cell and should use that instead.”

I felt myself blink rapidly, the shock of the answering machine stopping only at the tone telling me to leave a message. I didn’t, instead dropping the headpiece back into the receiver with a sigh, picking at my lip. Seeing I was off the phone, the officers I was under came over, asking if I got in contact with anyone. Shaking my head, they offered to let me try again, since I didn’t leave a message and didn’t really have a phone call, though something tells me it’s more because I was a minor and they needed my family to know where I was just as badly as I needed to talk to them. Giving my thanks, I stood, following them as I moved to the holding room where I would stay until someone came to get me, or they decided to let me go. 

I was placed in the second cell to the left, next to one that I could only guess held Isaac. It was small with a simple cot along the left wall, and a toilet/ sink unit in the corner next to the foot it. I was able to see through the barred door, but the other three walls were concrete. Isaac’s cell had even less of a luxury, a small window within the steel door being the only thing he could look out of. I tried to calm myself, my emotions swirling with uncertainty as well as rage and fear of the situation. Unfortunately, all that was left at this point was to wait. The size of my cell didn’t provide much to do, and I still didn’t know what to say to Isaac or if I even should try to talk to him. So, I sat on the cot, bouncing my knee rapidly and picking at my fingers just for something to do. The police had taken away my necklace, my bracelets, everything ‘dangerous’ aside from my shoelaces, putting them in my bag which now rested on the desk in front of our cells. Isaac’s bag was on the floor next to it, making me wonder why they didn’t put anything in Evidence. Maybe they’d 

There was a creak as I was proven wrong, or maybe Psychic as the officers in charge of Isaac placed him in the neighboring cell. Based on the clock on the wall, it had been about an hour or so, meaning they probably let him think they got more information from me then was true. Though I onlyl saw him briefly, he looked tense, a nervous energy practically radiating off of him. There was a creak as he sat on the bed, the concrete wall separating us from each other. Unable to see each other was an annoyance I wasn’t expecting when they took me in, but at least we could talk to each other. Not that I had thought of anything in the hour I had to myself. So, for a while, we just sat in silence, making me go crazy with the deafening din. Letting out a light sigh, I leaned my head against the wall, calling out to him. 

“So…What did they ask you?” He made some sort of noise in confusion but didn’t answer, so I continued. “It’s just that you were gone longer than I was. Uhm, did they say anything about what Jackson told them?” 

He was quiet or a few seconds, speaking slowly, not quite hesitant but somehow restrained. I couldn’t quite read what it was, but it made worry twist inside me all the same. 

“They said he told them about the abuse...but uh...but they were more asking about the extent of it and about how I felt about my dad. Uhm...What about you? I didn’t think they’d bring you here too.” 

“It’s fine, I told you I was going to be here for you, and I am. Just a little more than you would have anticipated. There was a reason I didn’t tell you.” I ran a hand through my hair, shaking my head, “I didn’t want you to feel guilty, and I knew you would have. But all they really did was try to establish a timeline. If anything, I’m more worried about why Danny isn’t at home right now.” I scoffed.

“Not that I know what I’ll say when he does answer. Probably go off on me while keeping up with stupid lies….” I paused, realizing I’d said all of that aloud. “Anyway, no, they asked leading questions, trying to get more details than what existed, trying to find holes in my story, that kind of thing.” 

“What was your story?” I looked back at the wall, noticing the concerned lilt to his voice. I was glad he didn’t mention if heard what I said about my brother. “D-did you mention seeing me at all or-?”

“Well, yeah, why else would I be here? I told them I saw you on my way home from work.” I smiled lightly, “When they pushed I said we talked a little bit, but other than that, I was going home and that you were on your way to some location we hadn’t talked about.” 

“I can see why they asked where I was going…” He sighed, “and what we talked about.” 

“What did…” I paused, biting my lip, “What did we talk about? In case they ask me later…”   
“I told them that you went to ask me something but were kind of hard to understand because you were rambling a bit. That I thought you were trying to tell me something, but changed your mind and apologized, running off toward your house.” 

I closed my eyes with a wince, “You heard me talking to Meg in math class….” 

“Only bits and pieces…and I tuned out at the Pig Latin.” He admitted, paused, “You guys were pretty vague, since you kept cutting her off.” 

“Oh good.” I nodded despite the fact that he couldn’t see me, “Well, there are reasons for that, as I’m sure you put together.” 

I smiled, glad that flush that was slowly starting to warm my cheeks and the back of my neck couldn’t be seen. I don’t know how much of his confession was true, or if he even picked up on what we were saying, but I knew that I was only interested in proving his innocence while here. A jail cell would not be where I was admitting things like a stupid crush that carried over from our childhood. We barely talked as it is, I was surprised he was letting me help him. I was here as a friend and nothing else. I sighed, allowing my face to cool as I lay down on the bed. When I turned my head towards him, I couldn’t help but wonder if Isaac was staring at the wall like I was.

“But anyway… ” I said, feeling the tension in the room and shaking the thought away “There’s a time and place for such conversations, and it isn’t going to be here and now.” 

I rolled over to face the wall next to me as he let out a small sigh of laughter but said nothing. I went to sleep then, figuring that now was as good a time as any to get some shut eye. It was going to be a long night.  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Danny went straight to the Lahey house the minute he left from bringing his mom a care package. After he found out the truth behind her little side quest the other night. How could he have been so stupid? Of course, she didn’t believe anything he had to say the past week. Conall had warned him that thing were going to be harder to hide once she reached a certain age. Now that she was in high school, her brain was more developed, and with it everything else. His weaker tricks wouldn’t work against her like they did when she was a kid. And as for the who of the situation, it shouldn’t have surprised him as much as it did. After all, the rift never sit well with her, and in the past week she’d started to mention it again- that is when she actually decided to talk to him. And, this was his sister, who did things like this even without knowing what she was.   
As far as she knew, she was a kid that cared about people. So, why wouldn’t Steph have injected herself in someone else’s problems? Why wouldn’t she have found out that her father’s ‘accusations’ were based in fact? Why wouldn’t she try to help the family that they’ve been avoiding for years, for pretty much this reason? He could hear his father’s lecture now and could already feel the impending headache. God what was he going to do? What would his father do? What would Cam do if the situation was reversed? Would he run to only help his brother, or would he still help them both despite the canyon that formed between the two families?  
He shook his head, slamming the door to his truck when he found Derek’s Camaro parked on the street, along with a familiar beat up old Jeep. Oh great, the Sheriff’s kid is involved then. He made his way over quickly, taking advantage of his former babysitting ward flailing wildly from the doorway of the other house, a mess of brown curls disappearing from view.   
“Okay, when we talked about your little Beta, I wasn’t expecting this to be a frequent occurrence, Hale.” Danny felt a smirk stretch across his face as the other man tensed at his voice. “But you saved my ass the other night, so I’m here to return the favor.”   
“If Stilinski’s right, it has more to do with the fact that your little sister has once again stumbled upon our world.” Derek’s face was calm, his confidence oozing from his voice and being. “When are you and Conall going to tell her? At this point it’s probably hurting her more than protecting her.”   
“Unfortunately, it’s not us that are concerned about it.” Danny sighed, crossing his arms to keep himself from doing anything he’d regret. “Not that it’s any of your business.”  
“Right, of course not.” Derek rolled his eyes. “I only matter when you’re dying and in a panic.”   
Danny tilted his head, feeling more than the usual bite of sarcasm from the Hale. He was the one that had left after the fire. No contact, leaving Danny alone again. Then when he did come home, he didn’t call to let him know about Laura or the resurgence of activity in town. It wasn’t until after he’d went to parent teacher conferences for his Mom and felt the strategic thoughts of the Argents that he even found out about the new betta and the return of the hunters. To make things worse, he was arrested for the murder of this sister, and then found out that the alpha that did kill her was his uncle. So yeah, there was lot of disconnect between to the two. But why was Derek the one that was being bitter?   
“As much as I would love to unpack that, truly,” He deflected, not ready for this conversation. “I have a sister to get out of jail and you have a betta you don’t want shifting in a police station.”   
“Okay, Allison’s gonna stay here, with-woah! Danny…” Stiles appeared, bringing the men back to the present, and stopping any further discussion on the topic. “Wha-What are you doing here?”   
“Sup Mini Sheriff?” Danny smiled, ruffling the boys buzzed head. “Been a while, your dad sure he can leave you home alone yet?”   
“Oh, my gawd, still a joker, great.” Stiles smacked his hand away. “Still doesn’t answer my question.  
“I don’t know if you know this, Police Scanner,” Danny leaned forward to whisper. “But my sister got arrested by your dad today. So, I need to get that sorted, but then imagine my surprise when I see Roscoe at the home of a victim, along with the same man you accused of Murder a few weeks ago.”   
Stiles looked between the two, Derek struggling not to smirk as he started to blub like a fish, his mouth opening and closing rapidly. Danny didn’t hide his amusement at pointing out a glaring oddity that he was surprised no one else had picked up on, putting his hands on his hips as he waited. After a few minutes, he just groaned, stomping off to his car, mumbling something about the McGrath Siblings needing to stop commenting on his methods. Seems that Steph has been catching on to him too…that can’t be good.   
“Guess he’ll have to think of something else, huh? I’m gonna take my truck.” Danny said. “But don’t’ think this conversation is over yet.”   
“Can’t wait, Dan...” Derek muttered, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. “Can’t fucking wait.”   
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
When I woke up, the room was dimmed slightly, the natural light from the small basement-esque windows gone with the setting of the sun. Looking around, I tried to figure out what was going on, but was met with the same silence from before, the lack sound was deafening until it was interrupted by something even scarier. A high pitched, and strained whine broke out next to me as Isaac’s cell door was forced open. I couldn’t see anything at first but regretted sitting up to see the cause instantly. The sight alone was enough to send me propelling into the corner quickly, eyes wide in shock. 

It was Isaac, but not. It looked like someone had melted a mask over his face, features morphed together to create something else entirely. The eyebrows protruded forward; the hair gone from them as his sunken eyes glowed-yeah that’s right freaking glowed- a shining golden yellow. Then there was the hair that curled all along his jawline and the elongated claws that wrapped around the steel. The nose was ridged, looking like a dog’s snout as it twisted into a growl. Out of all of it though, the scariest part of it all was the four was the enlarged canines his exposed for me to gawk at in terror. He no longer looked like the shy, quiet teenager I was talking to today, but instead like a Halloween monster come to life and out for mine. 

I held my hand to my mouth, my head spinning as I felt his intentions in a wave that came over me. It made my whole body hot, like it was trying to burn through me. Trying to control my erratic breathing, I jumped back as he slammed against the cell wall, growling and snarling as a long arm reached between the bars. My breath came out in short, fast breaths, eventually followed with small whimpers of fear. I wanted to scream, to warn the other cops of what was happening, but I was caught in the same trap that got me here. He’d run by the time anyone approached and I’d look absolutely crazy. So, instead I was caught in a staring contest trying to figure out what happened and what I could possibly even do. It was so different from the Isaac I knew, so feral, but I still wanted to help, to reach him somehow. I just didn’t know how. 

Before I could figure out why, the fire alarm filled the station with cacophonous noise, making me cover my ears and look to the ceiling. By the time my hearing adjusted, and I leveled my gaze again, Isaac was no longer at my cell, lurking somewhere else in the room. I stood shakily, not wanting to have his attention redirected at me, but needing to know what was happening. Slowly making my way to the door, I hugged the wall between the two cells, peering around the corner. I couldn’t see the Isaac nor could I see out of the lockup area save for some shifting shadows heading towards us. A few seconds later, a deputy came in, depositing a struggling Stiles on the ground in a frantic heap.   
The man in question was limping and had a broken arrow in one of his thighs. Holding up a sinister looking syringe, he turned to the cells, his face falling into shock when all he found was me and the open door to Isaac’s cell. I finally opened my mouth to warn him when Isaac lunged forward, and pushed the guy onto the desk, moving the piece back a bit in their struggle. He then lifted the guy up and threw him into the opposite wall. 

I stood up, running to the door of the cell at the same time that Stiles ran behind the desk. I yelled out, causing him to look back at me, and pointed to the door. Nodding, he scrambled to get the keys that had fallen, but at this point Isaac had knocked the cop out and turned to him. He pushed back against the wall, shooting me an apologetic face. I groaned, stilling as another man came in, stomping on the syringe with a break of glass. Isaac spun around to look at him, but then caught sight of Stiles and growled, making a step forward. The other guy stepped between them letting out a loud roar, his own canines enlarging and his eyes glowing a blood red. 

I watched in shock as Isaac fell into the wall next to his victim, whining as he hid into it. After a few seconds, her lowered his arms to show that he was back to normal, panting and fear evident in his eyes. He was shaking, and looking at this mystery guy as if he was waiting to be yelled at. 

Stiles let out a sigh of relief, looking at mystery man. “How did you do that?” 

The guy turned around to look at him, his voice oozing with confidence.” “I’m the alpha.” 

They just started at each other for a few seconds and I leaned on the bars, my voice finally making an appearance since I woke up. 

“WHAT THE _HELL_ WAS _THAT_?!” 

They both turned to look at me and Stiles gasped, grabbing the keys to my cell. “Right...Stephanie, you’re here….” 

I pointed towards Isaac, “Yeah, they brought me in with him… Now get me out of here and answer my question!” 

The man scoffed, pointing towards me as Stiles came and let me out, “Who’s this?” 

“I...could ask _you_ the same thing...” I said, flustered as I stepped out and looked at each of them. “Especially after watching you change like he did.” I looked to Isaac, wary of whether or not he would change back into that thing. “And why you’re calling yourself an _alpha_.” 

“Yeah...it’s a long story.” Stiles said, looking between me and Derek nervously before sighing, “This is Derek Hale….and Derek, this is Stephanie McGrath...she goes to school with us and I’m guessing was accused along with Isaac for the death of his dad.” 

He nodded, as I looked at him curiously, “ _Derek Hale._ The same Derek Hale that was just exonerated from the crime of killing his own sister?” 

“You know me, great.” He looked at me with a menacing face, “Now forget you saw anything here.” 

“I wha- I don’t even know _what_ I saw here!” I snapped, “How am I going to _forget it_.” 

He took a step forward, but Stiles got between us, shaking his hands, “ Woah, Derek...you can’t just intimidate people into being quiet.” 

“She’s seen too much, what if she tells someone? And then the _Argents_ will catch wind of it, and we’re _all_ in trouble.”

“So you _threaten_ her?! She doesn’t even _know_ what’s going on! Has no knowledge of the situation whatsoever. Nothing.” Stiles looked from him to me, pointing out how freaked I was as I looked at Isaac fearfully. 

The later of the two stood up slowly, looking to Derek. “Then we’ll take her with us...right? She won’t tell anyone, and no one can question her. Besides...it’s going to look bad if she’s standing outside of her cell and I’m gone anyway.” 

I nodded slowly, “I don’t care _what_ we do...just...don’t leave me here to try and explain what happened because...the one lie I’ve had to tell had a hard enough truth as it is.” My voice shook as Derek gave me a strange look, “A-and I don’t think I could keep this from the cops too.”

“Good, it’s settled, oh, don’t forget your bag….” 

I looked at Stiles as he held it out to me, “Are you _serious?_ You want me to go...with them?” 

“I don’t really see you having any other option at the moment. And you _just_ said you didn’t care what we did.” He shrugged, looking to Derek, “Besides, you guys don’t really have a lot of time left...So I’d get going.” 

Derek nodded, “Let’s go.” 

I jumped as Isaac appeared next to me and guided me to follow Derek, who was leaving through the door regardless of whether or not we were with him. I blindly walked between them, my instincts screaming for me to run away and to just try my luck elsewhere. I stayed where I was though, knowing that Stiles was right. I couldn’t go home and I couldn’t stay here. I sighed, running a hand through my hair as we walked through backgrounds for what felt like an hour and into a parking lot that held a jet black Camaro waiting for us. As they went to the car I took a deep breath bracing myself for what I was going to be dealing with. 

“Man up, McGrath…” I muttered, stepping forward, “it’s a hell of a lot better than a jail cell.” 

I slid into the back seat, avoiding the worried looks Isaac was shooting my way and looking out the window. The engine roared to life and I jumped when a hand touched my knee. Jolting back, I looked at Isaac, wincing at how hurt he was by the motion. 

“I’m sorry….I….” I shook my head, “I just need a minute to process what I just saw in there.” 

“I’ll explain everything when we get back to my place.” Derek’s voice was sharp, but when he directed his gaze to the rear view mirror to look at me, it softened, “ Stephanie, right?” I nodded, “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I’m going to need you to trust me, can you do that? You’re not safe, they’re going to think you and Isaac are fugitives.”

I nodded, “Yeah...sounds great...You’ve done it before, right?” I slouched in the seat, leaning away from them both and pulling at the hem of my shirt.

“Yes, they never found me, did they?” His voice was crisp, but I could still feel that overbearing confidence from before. 

I kept my gaze at the window, forcing my voice to sound even. “Yeah well, you’re still probably about as dangerous as that guy that Isaac attacked, so pardon me for being on the defensive...”

“Right, because waiting to be arrested again is so much better.” He scoffed, failing to make me feel any better.

“Sure as hell was better than staying at home…” I mumbled.

“What was that?” I looked up to see a look of curiosity stretch Derek’s eyes, but also a gleam of an arising opportunity. 

“Nothing…” I said, somehow knowing that this driving stranger actually did hear me, but wasn’t sure if he was supposed to. “Just...asking where we’re going.”

“Somewhere safe.”

We fell into silence then, leaving all of us to wonder whether or not it was a good idea for me to have come along. The whole time, I stared out the window, trying to make any sense out of what I just saw.


	6. Dreadful Truths

Despair sank into the very pit of Danny’s stomach as he watched everything he’d worked on the past eight years dissipate. Now, he was frozen in place as his little sister, his one job rode away to be a fugitive with Derek Hale’s beta and the alpha himself. This was worse than what he’d been fearing the past week. No; this was a nightmare turned into reality. 

I am so irrevocably screwed I don’t even have the option of fleeing right now. 

His lips pulled into a frown, the gravity of the thought pulling it further than the muscle could reasonably allow. While his body stayed paralyzed, his mind ran at top speed, expanding itself as much as possible; weighing the odds of his choices, of his chances of amending his mistakes. He grit his teeth as he struggled to justify his actions. He knew how simple it was; they weren’t his actions, and therefore needed no justification. However, he also knew who he was dealing with, and that wasn’t going to fly. No, he needed to think of a better defense than casting off the blame. 

First, if he really thought about it, there were way worse people than Derek Hale to break this news to her, given family alliances. Plus, with this out of the way, their parents would lose a major factor of the divorce. They could all be together again, and figure it out as a family. However, with this, and knowing his sister’s impulsiveness, it was only a matter of time before she did something stupid that would reveal everything they were hiding. With how she treated him tonight, even his guesses at Steph’s reactions weren’t something he wanted to dwell on. 

To know what he knew, to remember what he did, it was a burden he never wished for her. There were reasons for what Tess did, important ones. With his sister’s volatile genetics and the unknown results when she came of age, mitigating the trauma was the only option. And while he agreed that his mother’s methods were a bit extreme, at least she did something to try and protect her. Who knows what would have happened otherwise. 

The alarms went off in the building behind him, his phone buzzing in his pocket simultaneously. Shaking away the war his thoughts liked to replay far too often, Danny sighed, pulling the device out. Seeing that Stiles had successfully annoyed and distracted the police, making everything all clear, he started towards his truck. One day he’d stop having to worry about what he hid from Steph. That day was coming close, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready for the consequences of listening to his parents would have on his bond with his baby sister.

As it was, he was certainly glad he wasn’t the one breaking the news to her currently. He could only imagine what she had to say to the Hale Alpha. 

☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾  
“I’m sorry, I must be really tired or something,” I stuttered, looking at the dour expression of the only ‘adult’ in the room. When I got no reaction, I let out a nervous laugh. “Because, for a second there I thought you said you guys were werewolves.” 

“That’s because your ears are better at hearing than your brain is at processing.” Derek crossed his arms over his chest, exasperation pinching his features. “I am, what else do you think I would be an Alpha of?” 

“I mean from a psychological standpoint, you scream alpha male personality.” I defended, shaking my head. “But I suppose that’s a fair point. Werewolves, huh? That’s what I saw tonight.” 

I paused in my pacing to sit down on a trunk next to Isaac. I still couldn ‘t quite look him in the eye just yet, and had no way of knowing what he was going to ask me before Danny showed up. So, to say that I saw some tension release from his body as I allowed the close proximity would be an understatement. If I wasn’t trying to wrap my mind around the fact that he was a werewolf I’d probably be happy to unpack the effect I had on him. Unfortunately, denial and the supernatural tend to go hand in hand, even from its biggest fans. I sighed, scratching at my ear in thought. 

“I mean, it’s not like I can deny what was right in my face; and it certainly makes more sense than Danny’s bullshit about me being stressed from school. What other explanation is there?” I looked at the two of them, pointing to Derek.

“I watched you physically change in front of me. Normal people can’t just magically grow canines, or have their eyes glow red. And you...well you went from what you look like now, to a halloween Mask gone wrong...no offense...” 

Isaac avoided my gaze, looking as embarrassed by my description as I was for saying it, while Derek nodded. Confirming my thought process, his lips twitched into the faintest of smiles.

“That’s one way to put it, yes.” 

I nodded, staying still, working through it all with the rotation of my hands, “But then, what about Scott and Stiles? How do they fit into this? Does it have to do with why he’s been so weird the past few months? Or why they seem to never be at school or work?” 

“In a manner of speaking.” Derek sighed, tilting his head as if weighing his options. “Scott got turned by my uncle, and Stiles has been trying to be his mentor before I intervened.” 

“If anyone was qualified to have their best friend turn into a werewolf, it’s Stiles.” I mused, thinking of other details I’d heard or seen. “Does Lydia have something to do with this? I know they were talking about her in class and mentioned something about body parts. And what about that Cop...he was gonna drug Isaac.” 

“Kill would be the more accurate term, but he wasn’t a cop.” He clarified, visibly controlling his facial expressions to remain as neutral as he could muster. “He was with the Argents.” 

“And the Argents are….” I paused, the name finally clicking into place for me, “Wait as in Allison Argent? Scott’s ex?”

“Yeah, they’re hunters.” Isaac said, pinching his lips to the side, “Kind of ironic when you think about it. Takes the overprotective dad thing to a new level.” 

“I’d say….” I scoffed, looking between the two boys. “And do they typically go to such lengths to attempt murder?” 

“Yes.” Derek stated, his eyes nearly crossing in annoyance. Glancing at Isaac though, he sighed before admitting. “But there is something different. They aren’t following their code. Isaac’s still a kid, and he hasn’t killed anyone.” 

“Maybe they just heard about Mr. Lahey’s death and the arrest...made assumptions from there.” I picked at my lip, my nose crinkling in confusion. “But whatever that thing was, it wasn’t like you guys. And why did it attack Danny a few days before?” 

Derek glanced between me and Isaac, his eyebrow raising at the mention of my second experience with whatever we were dealing with was. “I can’t say anything about that, but I know that they have eyes all over town, especially with Gerard here. Right now, the main concern is keeping you two out of sight until we find out what it is, and how to stop it.”

“Stop it? Us?” I laughed, the ridiculousness of the comment forcing it out of me. “A pair of teenagers against a mystery TMNT reject? I can barely live with the glimpses of this thing, and you want me to fight it?” 

“I get that this is a lot to process, but you have the advantage;” Derek waited for me to look at him, not following his train of thought. “You’ve gone toe to toe with this thing twice and survived. We could use that.”

“Yeah, except for the fact that I don’t even know how I survived, and then had my brother telling me I made it all up.” I argued, anger boiling in my stomach at my own mentions of Danny. “You know what, you’re right; this is a bit much to process. I’m gonna need a minute.” 

Before either of them could stop me, I jumped to my feet and walked away from them. Seeing as we were in some abandoned substation, I couldn’t get too far so I doubt they were all that worried. The place was a dump, with a broken down subway sitting on the inside and debris everywhere you looked. The only place that was probably clean was the manager’s office up the stairs from where I left. I had fallen asleep in the car, adrenaline taking its toll on me before we got here. So to make things worse- which wasn’t hard, I was already in a less than inhabitable living space- I was in some undisclosed location in town. Oh, and werewolves were real, let’s not forget that revelation.

I’d always enjoyed those stories, of the supernatural and paranormal worlds within our own. I thought they were a cool take on things, and explained some of the weirder things in life. Did I actually think they were possible? No, but at the same time, it seemed to soften the blow for me. Yeah those books you love to read and movies and shows you watch until you can quote it in your sleep? Yeah, it’s all real, just with some creative liberties. It felt like someone had taken my boring and normal life, and made a Warner Brothers Tween Drama out of it. 

How was I supposed to just accept all of this? Werewolves are real-hell I’m friends with them- and they were being chased by werewolf hunters. Better yet, Allison’s family, adding yet another layer of Romeo and Juliet tragedy to their already strangly matched relationship. I barely had a chance to unpack all of that when Derek, an alpha I just met tells me I could be the secret to fighting off this mystery figure that has been haunting me for the past week. I pinched myself, at the off chance this was a bizarre Adderall Dream like my preserve one. Unfortunately, it wasn’t, and my phone rang in time with my hiss of pain. 

Jumping at the noise, I pulled it from my jacket, frowning when I saw an unknown number. Looking toward where the boys were, I weighed my options. It could be the police, or it could be some sort of trap by the police to find me...or the Argents. It could be Danny on a blocked number, or worse; my mother. Biting my lip, I decided to risk it, clicking the answer button and pulling it to my ear. 

“Hel-” 

“Oh good, You’re safe!” Stiles’ voice burst through the speaker at a volume that forced me to pull it from my ear, “You had me worried when Danny said you took off with Derek.” 

“Stiles? How did-where did you-” I stuttered, sighing as I tried to manage a complete query, “How did you get my number?”

“I asked Scott...how else would I get it?” I leaned against one of the pillars as he posed the question. “I mean I asked your brother, but he didn’t answer, so I went to the only other source I had.” 

“I-You know, with the weirdness of tonight, I don’t know why I didn’t anticipate that. Fair enough Stilinski.” I looked up at the ceiling, letting out a sigh, “I thought you could have been the cops trying to track me down.” 

“Seriously?” I winced at his loud proclamation of shock. “Do you really think that the Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Department has the time or resources for that?”

“How about we save the ‘I know the inner workings of the BHPD like the back of my hand’ speech for another time.” I said, trying to make a joke, but feeling my nerves slip through, “And tell me why you bothered to get my number at all.”

“Right...I was just seeing how you were, you know, handling everything. I mean, since I’m assuming they told you everything, and figured you might want someone to talk to about everything and just-.” He sighed, making me smile at finally hearing something as normal as Stiles rambling. “How are you taking it all?”

“Well, that’s an opportunely timed question, despite how loaded it is.” I sighed, sliding into a seated position. “They only just finished telling me, so we can assess it together I guess.” 

“Oh crap! Sorry I can totally call back later if you want? I didn’t mean to jump you right after the big reveal and whatnot… Yeah I’ll call you back, give you some time to-” 

“Stiles, Stiles! It’s fine.” I laughed, his energy ironically enough calming my mind with its hyperactivity. “I could use someone to discuss this with, honestly.” 

“Oh, okay…” He sounded confused, but willing. “Where did you want to start?”

“Oh, ya know, usual panic and denial.” I joked, hoping my panic didn’t show in my voice. “Because it was so easy already to be a low income, high school girl with one parent, in California. Yeah, let’s just add the fact that werewolves and shit are real.” 

“Well when you put it that way, it does sound kind of bad.” 

“Yup, perfect, really;” I continued, just letting the word vomit happen so that I could get my emotions straight. “Just a few days ago, I thought there was something missing in my adolescent misery. Don’t challenge the universe; she fights back.” 

“Heh-yeah, yeah she does.” While he was joking there was something off in his voice, whatever it was disappearing behind typical pop culture references. “Gotta be careful with your force powers there, McGrath. It’s clearly too strong in you.” 

I ran my hand through my hair, puffing out a burst of air through my lips. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

“Did he give you the whole ‘the Bite is a gift’ speech yet?” I let out a small choke of surprise. “Guess not. Well, spoiler alert, he will and he will be lying, I’m sure Scott can testify for you.” 

“Ya know, shockingly, speaking as someone who is now a fugitive of the law just for being associated with one of the Bitten, I figured that one out on my own.” I groused, shaking my head at the insanity that was my life now. “I mean really, I only just figured out this stuff is real. The only thing I’m going to be accepting is more answers. Like how the hell Derek knows my brother, and how Danny knows about all of this.” 

“What makes you so sure he does?” The question seemed appropriate, I’m sure, since Stiles doesn’t know about the Reserve, or what really happened with Isaac, but it still set me on edge. “I mean, he bumped into us when we were at Isaacs and he said he saw us on the way to you.” 

“Yeah, while lies seem to be a specialty of his, I’m realizing.” I gulped. “You didn’t see the way he and Derek were talking, Morgan….there was something else going on, I just can’t figure out what.” 

“Well, you’re sounding like yourself again.” He observed, with humph. “Guessing my name incorrectly again.” 

“Well, gotta fall into the familiar right?” I joked back. “Pretty sure I’ve guessed that one already, so I knew it was wrong.” 

“Yeah, sure whatever makes you feel better about your repeated failure.” He scoffed, and I could almost see him shaking his head, and clenching his jaw in annoyance. 

“Speaking of failures…” I segued, asking what had been bothering me since he showed up at the station. “Is this why I’ve been covering for Scott at work? And why have I been letting you borrow notes for class? Because you need to be more aware of how suspicious that makes you two look.” 

“Yeah, well...as long as we turn in the work it seems to be fine on the administrations end.” He stammered, defensive of him and his friend. “You try being the Yoda to an unwilling werewolf.” 

“Okay, that’s two in one conversation, there, Pip don’t make me start breaking out the Tolkien.” I warned, proud that my mind went there as soon as Derek used the word ‘mentor’. 

“No way, you are way more of a Pippin than me,” He groaned, making me laugh slightly. “You don’t get to be Merry, not when you just joined all this.”

“Think about it,” I argued, twisting a strand of my hair as I thought it out. “You have smart ideas but are really a lovable idiot, while I’m the one with common sense and is a secret badass who probably won’t get noticed for it if a movie were to happen.” 

“You really need to get over that Riders of Rohan nerfing.” He stated, making me roll my eyes. “The movies were already three hours long each.” 

“And yet they are talking about doing the Hobbit in three! The smallest book, in three movies.” I grumbled, “Not that this isn’t fun we should probably get back on topic I’m distracting myself from.” 

“Only if you agree to let me quote you as calling me lovable.” I bit my lip in annoyance, my neck flushing slightly. 

“I was hoping you missed that.” I grit out, knowing that wasn’t my luck tonight.

“Well, keep hoping for things, maybe you’ll get it one day.” He laughed through the phone, a shift coming through as his voice took a more serious tone. “So, where do you stand on everything?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. I feel like I should be freaking out, but I’m not. If anything, it explains some of the messed up stuff in my life. I’d have to do a little more research to file through what’s legit or not, but who knows; maybe I’ll figure out some things.”

“And what about your brother?” While his voice was calm, there was an underlying curiosity to it that set me on edge. 

“What about him?” I answered, my tone clipped as I pushed my own thoughts on the matter aside.

“What are you gonna do? Confront him? Try talking to your parents?” 

“Yeah, Stiles I’m gonna talk to my delusional mother who works so much she barely raised me and my dad with a mystery job far away from me separately, about the existence of werewolves.” I snorted, shaking my head. “Sounds like a great way to get the employee discount at Eichen.” 

“You say that like you’re just gonna shoulder this alone, even when your family could possibly be a part of all of this.” 

“And when you say it that way, you are judging me for it.” I retorted, not really liking how harsh either of us sounded right now. “Look, even if they were involved, they lied to me for years. Danny had me thinking I was crazy for something that was real and who knows what else he’s been hiding from me. I don’t see why I’m the one who has to open up conversation.” 

We both fell silent, an uncomfortable tension crackling through the phone. Sighing, I tried again, this time a little more diplomatic. “Look, it's not set in stone at the moment, and I’m not definitely not thinking rationally about it, but am thinking about it. I just don’t know which side I’m going to end up on just yet.” 

“Just...be careful Stephanie.” Stiles’ voice was insistent, almost pleading. “I know I had you work with him to get out, but you can’t trust Derek. Sure he’s good in a fight, or if you need the brawn, but he’s not really a trustworthy guy.” 

“I know....” I bit my lip, glad to know my initial weariness wasn’t unfounded.“He seems like he’s on a power trip or something.” 

“Oh so you did notice that, good.” There was a humorless chuckle, as if there was more to the story that Stiles wasn’t sharing. “Yeah, he’s more concerned with finding teens he can manipulate to make a pack than really leading one. Or at least, that’s what Scott thinks. Me? I think he’s just a lonely sour wolf who wants friends.” 

“I see….” I laughed slightly, “You always did have a gift for describing people.” 

“I wouldn’t say it’s a gift- talent maybe-but not a gift.” 

I shook my head, at his antics, pausing when I caught sight of Isaac on the edge of my vision. “Hey...listen, Stiles? I gotta get going, but I’ll keep in touch? I can’t handle missing much schoolwork so it would be nice to know what’s going on. And I know it probably goes without saying, but don’t tell anyone where I am? I don’t want Scott or Doc to worry, and Meg would just freak.” 

“If that’s what you want. Just... I meant what I said about Derek, Stephanie...be careful trusting him.” I kept my face neutral so that Isaac didn’t see the concern I felt as I heard that of Stiles’.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. Talk later.” 

“Right, bye.” 

I hung up the phone and slid it into my pocket, standing upright just as Isaac reached me. I could feel his tension more than I could see it; and he looked pretty cautious already, making me realize I still haven’t talked to just him since we got here. All he’s seen so far is my anger at my family, and my calm, yet irritated acceptance of the fact that he was a werewolf. A part of me knew that I needed to show him I wasn’t scared of him, that I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me, or at least not intentionally. You’d think that would make things easier, but no; I still couldn’t shake the memory of when he wanted to last night.

I gave a small smile, the movement feeling more forced than I wanted it to. “Hey...” 

“Hey…” He echoed, sounding just as hesitant as me. 

I watched as he curled into himself slightly, hands shoved into his pockets. He always did that, bending himself to look less tall than he was. It was like he didn’t want to intimidate the people around him with his stature. He even adjusted it to the person’s height. Where I was on the taller side, he didn’t have to slouch nearly as much as he would with Meg or Lydia, but it still made my smile warmer. It looked so much like the real him, that I couldn’t help it. He always made it easy for me to relax, for my emotions to clarify themselves; even as kids. After a few seconds of silence, I gulped and took the plunge, realizing that was what he was waiting for. 

“So…” My hand found themselves shoved into my back pockets, hoping my open posture would help him to relax a bit in turn. “About how much of that did you actually hear, Superman?” 

“Oh! Not...not much,” He shook his head, tilting his head when I raised an eyebrow at him, clearly calling his bluff. “Okay, so maybe a little more than you probably wanted, but- how are you taking things...so far anyway?”

“Well if you heard as much as you claimed…” I tossed a hand behind me as if to physically indicate the past. “Then you’d know that-” 

“Steph, I’m not talking about what you said.” he raised a hand, to ruffle the pile of curls that sat at the front of his head, pulling it so it rested at the back of his neck. “You’re forgetting that with my…my ‘Superman’ hearing, I can hear more than that and on the phone? You were lying to Stiles.” 

I opened my mouth and rapidly shut it, unsure of how to reply. A few seconds went by before I stupidly blurted. “Was I really, now?” 

He nodded, “When someone lies, their heartbeat, it changes; spikes up, just enough for them to pick up on polygraphs, or in this case, it can be heard.”

“So I’m surrounded by lie detectors after being told a reality shaking secret?” I scoffed. “Great, that’s just...fantastic news that is.”

“I’m sure that beats the fact that Derek is convinced you’re gonna accept the Bite.” He shrugged slightly, when my eyes widened. “I’m aware he hasn’t offered yet, but he did mention it after you left.” 

“I don’t even know what my ties to this world are, and he really thinks that I’m going to ust let him bite me?” He nodded, making me hide my face behind my hands. “That’s...that’s crazy!” 

“And yet…” I peek through my fingers to look at him, “You’re considering it, aren’t you?”

I dropped my hands and jaw, shock running through my core. Could he read minds too? What the hell else is he going to tell me about myself?! “And just how do you know that? Did you hear that too?”

“Uhm...no...slightly weirder.” He laughed awkwardly. “I can...smell your... indecision?” 

“You can smell my- You know what? This whole werewolf super senses thing?” I pointed back and forth between us, “Is a complete and uncomfortably intimate invasion of privacy.” 

I looked down, skirting around him as I once again decided to run away from any real conversation. I wasn’t ready to choose and I wasn’t ready to have people telling me when I was lying to myself or otherwise, or that they can smell what I was feeling. Unfortunately, Isaac didn’t take that for an answer this time. Just as suddenly as I’d made my retreat, his hand wrapped around my forearm, stopping me from going further.

“Wait, Steph,” His grip tightened to be bruising, making me his in pain. He instantly let go, holding his hand back as his eyes widened. “Shit! I-I’m so sorry…I’m still getting...getting used to-” 

“To what, being stronger than everyone else? Being the one with all of the power?” I ran a hand through my hair and let out a breath through my nose, shaking my head. “Yeah, maybe I don’t want to get used to that. I’ll end up like my mother, bitter at everything and hiding from the people in my life, or worse! I’ll end up like Danny, lying to the people I care about and making them question their sanity in the process. I won’t do that, Isaac! And if I take the Bite, it will give me the excuse to…” 

“Stephanie” His face looked pained, but I was too focused on hearing the way he said my name, “You can’t think like that...it’s not something you’d do.” 

“How could you not think that way when he offered it to you?” I looked away, “I’ve thought about it for years….about if I turn into my mother when I grow up. If I were to have children and blow their lives up by falling into her patterns…” 

“The Bite doesn’t change who you are.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, making me stiffen, but not pull away. 

“Derek says it reflects what you are within...and Steph, you are a good person. Just like your brother, even if it doesn’t feel like he is at the moment.” He dropped his hand and shrugged again, “If you were anything like your mom, you wouldn’t have tried to find me in that Alley.” 

I shake my head, a tight smile forming on my face, “But if I was, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you, would I? I wouldn’t be scared out of my wits when I saw you shift… and I wouldn’t really be debating undergoing the same goddamn change myself.” 

“Just- Just think about what it can do for you.” He sighed, looking down briefly before continuing. “None of the weaknesses that serve as a daily reminder of your place at home. Nothing to hide from everyone else. No more feeling like no one cares.” 

I took in a deep breath, “Maybe that’s why I’m overthinking it...it just sounds too good to be true...and there’s no taking it back when I do it.” I took a few steps back, pausing before finally leaving. “But thank you… for giving me more to think about it.” 

I didn’t look back as I left, wishing that I could shake the feeling that that deep down? Something in me knew he was right.


	7. Symbiotics

I spent the next day wandering around the station, having awkwardly slept in an overly plush office chair Derek found for me. It was a day of little consequence, but excruciatingly turbulent thoughts. I had turned my phone off after the fifth missed call from Danny, and I didn’t see or expect any from my mother. I knew I should have kept it on, given my promise to Stiles about keeping in touch, but I just couldn’t keep letting myself flood with that hope. Or maybe I just didn’t want to give in to the temptation of letting my brother off the hook so easy. At this point, it was impossible to decipher my own thought process. 

Then Derek came back and with unexpected company. 

At the sound of the door and accompanying footsteps, Isaac and I had both found ourselves at the centralized location at the bottom of the stairs. Both of us looked like rumpled messes, still in our clothing from the night before, but appearances weren’t 100% on our minds. Hygiene, though, that was on mine at least. Thankfulyl, I had a brush for detangling purposes in my bag, but otherwise I was only pretty/ clean via my identification to the fairer sex. Honestly, I would settle for a shower over a change of clothes, but that is neither here nor there. What was, however, was finding out who Derek could possibly have brought to us given our legal status. As the pair descended the stairs, I felt my jaw drop before I could compose myself, finally getting the answer, only to be met with more questions. 

“Holy Shit!” I covered my mouth with both hands, wincing as I only wanted to have thought the phrase. 

Looking far worse for wear than either of the fugitives in the room was none other than Erica Reyes. Her tied back hair held it’s typical frizz, and she was wearing a hospital gown and bracelet meaning she must have had a seizure today at school. Poor thing was one of my tuterees, if only because of how often she had doctor’s appointments or attacks. She was super sweet, if a little quiet and withdrawn. Looking at her now though, she looked like she would have done anything Derek told her, her eyes dewy with awe and appreciation. As they made their way towards us, I felt my stomach turn. Appearing bright on the waist of the gown was a crescent shaped line, looking almost perforated in the minimal gaps. I’m sure there was a matching one just out of view, given what it entailed.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” My hands dropped in spite of my best efforts to keep them still. “You’re harboring two teenage-who are also fugitives may I remind you- and you decided to go recruit another one.” 

The question came out more as a statement, my shock not shared with Isaac, who just glanced at her with curiosity. “She’s the next member of our pack?” 

Derek kept my gaze, as if daring me to challenge him as he answered his Beta. “Yes she is.” 

“So, what, do you stalk the high school grounds or something? Is that how you heard she’d had an attack? Then you just went to the hospital and grabbed her?! I can’t be the only one that thinks this is messed up!”” I shook my head incredulously before turning to address her. “And you just let this guy you never met before bite you? Where are your parents? Aren’t they going to be looking for you?” 

“They were going to be another hour or so...Derek said he’ll get me back before they came.” She smiled shyly, “And he mentioned he knew you… so I figured he was safe.” 

“Did he now…” I glared at him before making my way over to the other girl. “Well, that’s a bit complicated. It’s good to see you, just... I’m sorry. I just didn’t think he would try to sell the whole werewolf thing to you too.” 

“And why not?” She shook her head, “What did you think you were the only one that gets the offer? It’s called a pack not a pair of betas. Besides, it’s not like he was going to wait around for you to say yes.” 

“What, no, that’s not what I meant at all, Erica.” I backed off, shocked by her tone, “I just, I-” 

“What, Stephanie, you just what?” Her eyes went cold, turning her into a scary replicant of the Erica I knew.

“I…” I gulped, my shoulders sagging slightly. “I just wanted to say ‘Welcome’ I guess. Let me know if you need anything.” 

Turning away, I walked until I couldn’t hear or see the others near me. I walked until I felt a cold chill come over my body, the rage and judgement from before sapped out of the air. I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t let more of my friends and peers be alone with someone as sneaky as Derek Hale. They clearly had no idea what they were getting into and Derek had no idea what he was doing. It was like watching a child pick up and play with everything from the Island of Misfit Toys and expecting them to be better now that he was working with them. Every one of us was broken and he thought that the Bite was going to fix us and make us obedient. 

Maybe this was why Danny never told me about him; the young wolf full of hubris. Or maybe he knew that the other boy liked to play mind games. He finds people like us, who are used to not having control over our own lives that we would be easy to control. Either way it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to forgive the omission, and I certainly wasn’t going to abandon those that have suffered from it. I was going to help them, and I was going to prove him wrong. So, I’ll wait for him to come back from dropping Erica off and finally accept his offered ‘gift’. It would work out beautifully, He would make me a member of his pack, and I would be able to protect and help the people I cared about. It was symbiosis at the basic level, and it decided my fate.

I was going to take the Bite.

☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾ 

The halls of the sub-basement of Eichen were uncharacteristically quiet as Tess made her final rounds. She’d just gotten off the phone with the upstairs staff, saying they needed extra help there before she left for the day. So despite the relaxing shift she’d been given, it looked like her abilities were to be used elsewhere tonight. Running a hand through her hair, she sighed, wondering what leftovers would be waiting for her at home. Though, now that she thought about it, Daniel had brought her food the night before from the local diner, and she hadn’t gotten a text from Stephanie letting her know what to expect.

She hadn’t gotten any communication from her daughter in almost two weeks. While they didn’t have the closest relationship, the youngest McGrath was always diligent about keeping in touch with her the rest of the household. Maybe she’d just fallen into one of those streaks of talking strictly to her brother. He’d mentioned her going through some stress with school. It made Tess wonder how many slip ups she’d made recently; it was so hard to track them anymore. 

Before she could decide on a plan of action regarding Steph, she felt a sharp stab through her eye like a psychic lobotomy. She slipped to her knees, choking back a shriek as she leaned back, her hands covering her eyes. Searing pain burned it’s way through her eye sockets and into her brain, with flashes of light, and foreign images dancing in front of her. She was seeing the past, seeing the present, and there was a part of her that was seeing through someone else’s eyes. 

She didn’t know how long she sat there, her arms moving to cradle someone that wasn’t there, that was forgotten and trapped at the same time. She wasn’t ready for this day to come, not today. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to warn the boys, to warn her daughter. No, instead the truth was going to tear itself into all of their heads before she could prepare them. 

She didn’t know that Steph wasn’t home, or that she’d flopped into their world without knowing of the effects it would have on her family.   
☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾  
Derek decided that after my little outburst with Erica, that he was going to make me wait the day before turning me. Part of me was worried he was going to tell my brother, and have him drag my ass home, but nothing of the sort happened. My guess was that he wanted me to sweat it out, knowing that’s where my mind would go. Was I being impulsive? Yes I was. Did I need Big Bro to come and save me from my decisions? Hell no. So even if that was the play, I wasn’t going to back down now. After all, Stiles was right; I couldn’t trust Derek, not completely. 

I could trust him as long as he kept me safe, and with each new betta, that became less true. The only worry I had was if my resolve would change once I’ve taken the Bite. How exactly did the Alpha to Beta relationship work? Would I lose all of my will unless it came from him? Or would I still be able to be myself, just blocked in certain capacities? I sighed, closing my eyes, effectively ending my current staring contest with the man. 

“Okay, now that we’ve done the ominous waiting period-” I stood up, clapping my hands on my legs to break the growing tension between the three people present. “Where do you want me? Do you just...need me to stand still and wait for you to bite me? Do I sit or lie down? Or, or do you need me to run away and give you some weird thrill of the chase?” 

I laughed at myself, the mental image of me running away while Derek bared his teeth at me breaking all seriousness of the situation. It quickly faded, however, when I watched Derek’s mood shift and he stood taller, looking menacing as he crossed his arms over his chest. 

Derek just raised an eyebrow, his expression stoney, “You done?”

“With the joking? Yeah, yeah I think so.” I gulped, fiddling with my fingers. “With questioning myself on letting some guy I just met bite me in order to become a werewolf? Probably never. As for the rambling and random bursts of laughter, you’re stuck with those, unfortunately. Same as I have for the past seventeen years.” 

“You don’t need to be nervous,” He murmured, his voice taking on a strangely soothing tone. If I didn’t know any better, I might have even trusted him just from that. “You won’t regret this.” 

“Easy for you to say, Alpha Man.” I muttered. “Something tells me you’ve been at this for a good long while.” 

“I have, so I know that this won’t hurt you, but make you a better version of yourself, not different.” He took a step closer to me, his voice growing urgent. “The Bite is a gift, Stephanie.” 

“Ah there it is.” I muttered, thinking back to my conversation with Stiles. “Sorry, just not an everyday occurrence is all. Can we just….I don’t know, get this done before I change my mind?” 

Derek nodded, turning to Isaac, “Grab her.” 

“I’m sorry, did you just say ‘grab her’” I held my hand out, stopping the other teen in his tracks. “Why are we saying ‘grab her?’ I’m here, I’m ready, what more do you want?”

“Well, you can thank the guy about to restrain you for that. Even though he came to me, when it came down to it, instinct took over. So, where we don’t want to have you hurting yourself, or making things awkward should you run away…’Grab her’. Satisfied?”

“I suppose I have to be.” I nodded, willing to play ball to keep to my mission, “Okay, you’re right. You heard the man. Let’s just do it.”

Isaac moved quickly, looping his arms around my waist and pulling me to his chest. His head next to my right ear, causing me to tense when the first breath tickled at the side of my head. I tried not to think about it too much, and remind myself that this was strictly a business type of interaction. Still, unbidden, the back of my neck started to get warm, and I tried to clamp down my stupid teenage hormones before either of them noticed. If a prison cell wasn’t the place for such conversations, then being held down as I was about to be bitten was definitely not it. 

I felt Isaac loosen his grip slightly, almost as if to indicate that he was aware of my internal struggle. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him and see if I was right, part of me scared that he’d discovered my secret. Shaking my head, I rationalized that he probably thought I was still scared of him, or that he was worried about hurting me again like the other night. Unfortunately, the hesitation was lost and I felt the hum of his voice against my ear. His breath tickled again, and his cheek was warm against my hair, making me almost miss what he said as I got lost in such a strange sensation.

“I know it doesn’t feel like it...but it will help if you can relax.” 

“Says the guy that’s the reason for me being restrained.” I raised an eyebrow as I turned slightly to meet his gaze. “But thanks for the tip.” 

I felt rather than heard him chuckle ever so slightly, his lips curling in a half smile. I felt one pull at my face, but stopped, my eyes widening as I suddenly became very aware of the proximity of our faces to each other. And even more so, that Derek was in the room with us. The thoughts weren’t quite connected, but enough to make me turn away, looking to the Alpha with my best poker face. My hands were shaking, but I clamped them shut. Wherever composure I had was gone in an instant however, since Isaac tightened his grip. I gasped as goosebumps erupted up my arms, the fabric of his sweater brushing against my skin.

“Sorry,” He muttered feeling my discomfort, “He, uh, didn’t think I was holding you tight enough.” 

I closed my eyes, “Oh, great, something else to look forward to, a telepathic bond with everyone. Or at least what I can assume is one, since he didn’t actually say anythi-”

I let out a scream as Derek flashed forward with uncanny speed, his teeth clamping down into the dip of my waist. I didn’t even have a chance to break away from Isaac, or flinch. After he let go, all it took was for me to see my blood on his lips and I slumped down, Isaac catching me as I fainted heavily. 

Well...that was certainly not what I was expecting….  
☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾  
Derek wasn’t at all surprised when the McGrath girl fainted, passing out in Isaac’s arms. While it wasn’t the first time she’d pulled up this front in the past couple of days, he knew her brother well enough to see through it. Not to mention the fact that it crumbled the very second his beta went to hold her down. He wasn’t sure if it was from the action itself or the who, but there was something about it that made her crack, made her story seem all the more real. He had sensed that she was beaten down, not physically, but emotionally, fitting the same niche as the rest of betas he’d started to gather. The inability to accept someone else touching her though, that was a strange thing coming from someone related to Danny. 

Then again, he remembered what happened all those years ago; had seen what it did to the McGraths and Laheys alike. He hadn’t hung out with Cam nearly as much as Danny did, but they were friendly. There were scars hidden far beyond the surface of the families, and these two teenagers were connected in more ways than he was comfortable with. There was more to this girl than having been at the wrong place at the wrong time, and something told him there was more to her acceptance of the bite as well. 

The alpha motioned for the boy to bring her back to one of the mattresses he’d bought that day. Taking pity on the now ruined shirt he’d bitten her through, he also tossed one of his shirts at him, that he’d prepared just in case. Not that it mattered all that much anyway. While she was out, they were going to take a trip to get what they would need to survive them a few weeks if necessary. Clothing, food, toiletries, all of them were going to be needed. 

He had a feeling that she and Isaac both were going to want to get things from their houses, but they’ll have to be careful about that. Especially since something told him, Stephanie wasn’t going to leave it alone until they did. He didn’t really expect her to be as tough as she was, her strength hidden behind nervous speech and a beaten personality. Did he just want to see it in her, or was she actually just like her brother and father? Whichever it was, he did know that she was going to be troublesome. She was too much like Scott and Stiles; too many questions and too concerned about others to mitigate her own impulsiveness. 

Deciding to dwell on such things at a later time, Derek shook his head, calling out to Isaac just as the boy was about to leave his eyesight. “Make sure you come right back after moving her. I’m going to need your help getting some things.” 

There was a slight noise of affirmation, but nothing else. Looking around the cart, Derek let out a sigh. It was all coming together. But will they all be able to pull together to survive what was coming?  
☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾

It all came in flashes, broken scenes from mingled times cutting into each other uncontrollably. There were woods in the middle of the day, and then there was the edge of a pool late at night. Then there were large arms that felt strong and safe around the viewing point, jostling away from a yelling Mr. Lahey in his yard. There was screaming, running, crying for help, but it fell upon deaf ears in the woods, in the empty room, among the crowd of teenagers. A pulse was thrumming at an accelerated rate, the very sweat that clung to the skin saturated in fear, loss, and dread. It all mingled with a feeling of newfound strength clashing against helplessness. 

Then the vision stopped, approaching with strange clarity. It was the pool that night again when a small figure lay still on the ground, a pool of water surrounding it, as my mother shook at their shoulders, screaming noiselessly. It had to have been an out of body experience, for as I struggled against the shoulder trying to hide me from it, the figure almost looked like-

I jolted upright, leaves flying up as I did so. I went to pull the covers up to my chin, not fully aware of my surroundings. It wasn’t until I felt more of the foliage under my nails that it clicked for me. I tore my eyes completely open, blinking away at the bright morning sun in my face. At first I couldn’t figure out what happened; had I had another dream that led me here? Why was I in the Goddamn preserve again? Why was this the place I kept finding myself in? What even was the last time I even did?

Then it came to me; I had let Derek bite me. 

I had bumped into the supernatural unknowingly, been made to think I was crazy, got arrested, then I was told about the supernatural and decided to freaking join it all in one week. To top it all off, I was wearing a large v-neck that I don’t remember putting on but could only guess that Derek or Isaac had put it on me. Right now, that wasn’t my concern, instead I was worried about what had happened. Pulling up the shirt, I noticed the bloody mark on my waist. Or rather, the bloody stains of where he’d bit me. 

Under the shirt, my skin was smudged, perforated, crescents leaving themselves in their place. This was like the week after Danny and I were attacked, only this time, I don’t remember anything. The whole night was a blank after I fainted. Oh god, I freaking fainted in Isaac’s arms like a stupid freaking girl. Yes, I know I am a girl, but I still didn’t need Isaac to see me like that. I thought I’d kept my composure in the prison up until the whole werewolf thing, and now I just fainted into his arms? Talk about lame ways to impress your crush. 

Suddenly, I felt myself snap back into reality, looking at my scratched up arms and feeling my straggling hair.. My nails were a thick black with dirt, and I had various cuts from running through the woods at night. A part of me thought that I could smell a hint of chlorine, but that made little to no sense to me, seeing as I was nowhere near a pool. What happened last night? I tried to remember again, only this time thinking more logically, and less about how I could imagine myself. I had taken the bite, and fainted that much was certain, but how did I end up in the reserve after?

I struggled to remember, jumping when I felt a tug that made me listen. I could hear birds that weren’t in any of the trees near me, and a few coyotes loping back to their dens in the distance. I don’t know how, but that wasn’t even the half of it. I could feel things, intentions, sentiments. The exhaustion of those coyotes, the joy of the birds waking up to a bright new day. There was a feeling of fear underlying it all, but it was hard to distinguish if it was my own or animals around me. The fact that I was even thinking that was enough to make me hyperventilate. Looking at the ground, I noticed a small rectangular light vibrating from a few feet away. I moved forward tentatively, my breath still shaking along with my whole body. 

Each new feeling was painful, apprehension, the physical scrapping of the underbrush against my knees. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, dragging it all out impossibly. When I finally did get to the light, I found out it was my phone buried among a bunch of leaves, an unknown number flashing. Maybe it was Stiles again? I haven’t gotten around to putting the number in my phone yet, but he should be at school. I hit the answer button, taking a deep, steadying breath before pulling it up to my ear. 

“He-” I cleared my throat, trying again to force out the greeting. “Hello?”

“Steph? Thank God I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” 

I sighed, thanking whoever was listening for having it not be Stiles when I haven’t told him about my decision. Instead, I slumped into myself, falling to my knees even, as a wave of relief flooded over me. 

“Isaac…” I sighed, allowing myself to calm down for a few seconds, “I-I don’t know what happened, I just woke up here and was covered i-in....” I paused, hearing footsteps from somewhere nearby. “I’m in the preserve...but I don’t know how I got here…” 

“Okay...uhm….I’ll get there as fast as I can…” His voice was frantic as he thought through things, making me more panicked by the second, “You need to lay low until I do….we can’t have the cops finding you like this.”

I let out a whine, “Shit….I can’t be _seen_ at all! I’m a fugitive remember!” I looked from side to side, trying to determine where the footfalls were coming from, my words mixing into one. “whadoido, whadoido, whoadoido?!” 

“Woah, don’t go losing it on me, Steph.” I stilled at Isaac’s voice. It was much calmer now, and I allowed myself to isolate it among the chaos. “You need to keep your wits, and find somewhere to hide.” 

I let out an affirmative hum, allowing his calm to wash over me before giving him a couple of landmarks to find me. After he hung up, I sat still for a few seconds, trying to force my body to get with the program. It worked for all of the five seconds it took me to reach a tree. Then, I clenched into a ball, rocking as I tried to block everything out. Tried to shut out all of the senses and fear that was being thrown at me. From there, time was the last thing on my mind; every sound was thundering in my ears as my mind tugged at each new feeling or aura I felt. I could even feel the anxiety, and I almost wanted to say pity, of some of the animals that came near me. I was numb and overstimulated all at once. 

“Steph,” I bolted up, startled by the sudden appearance of Isaac, “Stephanie, You’ve gotta breath,” 

“Make it stop, Isaac, everything’s...everything’s…” my eyes darted all over the place with each new distraction. I looked back at him, “It’s like someone took my ADD and multiplied it 100%. I can’t stop it, I just keep feeling my mind get jerked and pulled in every direction.”

“Your body is just adjusting to all of the changes…” He looked down at my sides, and I followed his gaze to see the red dots blossoming under my fingers. “Something tells me that bruising yourself isn’t going to help….Why did you do that to yourself?”

“I wasn’t exactly thinking when I did it, Isaac.” 

I growled, making him place a calming hand on my shoulder. Or at least, it was supposed to be, instead, everything suddenly tuned in on high definition. I could make out the smallest details of a tree’s leaves, the individual drops of water on an individual strand of a spider web. 

“What is happening to me?”

“You are going through the final steps of the change. As you adjust, your senses will as well.” He smiled, as I marveled over the changes I could see. “If you think that is shocking, wait until you see your hair.” 

“My ha-” I held onto my hair, realizing I had only pulled at it, not looked at it. 

The strands that came into view, though knotted, were a lot better than they looked last night. They were shorter, as if they’d been cut, and curled healthily around my fingers. It was wavy, and voluminous, but that’s not what Isaac was referring to when he mentioned it. No, he was referring to the golden and copper hued strands that highlighted my hair in an orange-yellow glow. The color was so much brighter than it had been in a while. I had almost forgotten about it with all that’s been happening, but it looked just like it did in my dream that started all of this. 

I ran a hand through it, marveling at how soft the strands were as they slipped gently through the knots. “Would you look at that….how is-” I shook my head not exactly the time to be questioning the possibility of things. I sighed, realizing I wasn’t shaking anymore. “Wait... did you just say that to distract me?” 

“Well, yes, but no. I mean it did change, but you needed to focus on something attached to you, so.” He let out a puff of hair, and ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think, “It allowed your other senses to dull, so know we can try to piece together what happened.” 

“You mean try to figure out how I ended up alone and looking like I ran through the woods in my sleep?” I laughed humorlessly, swallowing down the bile of fear burning at my throat. “I take it this didn’t happen to you then.” 

“The bite affects us all differently.” He hedged, his voice defensive, yet still maintaining that infuriatingly soothing tone. “Yes, this is a bit new, but at least you’re okay...and you didn’t hurt anyone.” 

“That we know of!” I said, worried now, since the thought was not one that occurred to me. “I mean I don’t even remember how I got here, maybe I did hurt someone and was chased here. Without any information from last night, who the hell knows what ha-” 

I stopped, shaking my head. “Son of a bitch.” 

“What is it?” He stood up and moved next to me, still keeping a careful distance. “Do you remember something?”

“No…” I rubbed my forehead in irritation. “But I know where we can get answers.” 

“Where?” He looked around trying to see whatever it was I saw.  
I crossed my arms, and started to walk toward where I thought the path was. 

“We’re gonna have to go talk to my brother.”


	8. Consequences

Meg was thankful that Mrs. McGrath wasn’t home, especially since she never could get a straight answer on what to call her. Not that this was a particularly important thought as she paced the length of her best friend's room in a frenzy. It had been a couple of days now, and she’s heard nothing, nothing! That was so unlike Steph it made the blonde ready to hurl. She was grasping at straws at this point, given some of the rumors running around school, but as she looked around her, she found nothing of the sort. Steph’s room was meticulous as ever, showing no sign of whatever caused her to leave school out of the blue on tuesday. Or to explain the garbled phone call she got last night that did nothing to alleviate the panic that was setting into Meg’s bones. 

She jumped at the sound of something hitting the floor, turning to see Danny standing in the doorway. His bag was the cause of sound, but his face was what gave her pause. While it also displayed disappointment, it held the same worry as hers which only made her own panic skyrocket. She gulped it down, giving an awkward wave to the actual resident of the house, giving an explanation with the spare key ring looped around her thumb.

“So she’s proper missing, then…” She said, trying to get something from his gaze. “It’s not her staying home sick or something.” 

“It’s uh...it’s complicated.” Danny allowed, bending to grab his bag.

“Then uncomplicate it?!” Meg’s voice was sharper than intended, but she hadn’t come here to be brushed aside. However, he wasn’t giving her anything except his back as he went into the living room. “Because she hasn’t been answering my messages, and the one I got last night was downright terrifying.”

He stopped, causing Meg to bump her nose into his back. Slowly, he turned his head to look down at her. “She called you?” 

There was pain in the hushed tone, a glint of regret mixed with jealousy in what she could see in his gaze. She pulled her lips in, entwining her hands nervously before nodding. 

“Can’t say it’s much of a real phone call, I couldn’t make anything out... sounded like it was in her pocket or bag.” She murmured, sheepishly. “Reckoned it was a pocket dial or something.”

“Did you hear her voice, did she sound-” Danny’s shoulders slumped, finally turning to fully face her. “Was she alright?”

“If the answer was yes, do you think I would be here instead of school?” She raised an eyebrow with her point. “Truth is, I know less than you do, and you are reluctant to share at the moment.” 

“Because like I said, it’s not exactly simple. I don’t even know where my mom is, and she should have been home by now.” His hand ran through the mop of brown hair atop his head, eyes darting around to find something to focus on. It wasn’t until they landed on her that he remembered he wasn’t alone.

“So can you please, please just go to school, and I’ll let you know if I hear from her?” 

Meg gulped, not used to seeing this side of him. She was used to the playful older brother who came into Steph’s room to embarrass her, or pick her up from Meg’s house. Seeing him worried was like seeing a wolf go vegetarian. A part of her didn’t want to leave him to his worry, but the other knew she wouldn’t be able to help. Eventually, she sighed, nodding before she walked around him to the front door.

“I’m holding you to that Daniel McGrath,” She muttered. “I have the means to get into your house.” 

Jingling her spare key as if to make the threat more ‘real.’ Meg walked out of the McGrath Residence and into her car a few houses down the street.

Steph...what the hell did you get yourself into?

☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽~☾~☽  
Isaac glanced at me, rubbing at his neck before responding. He was very clearly uncomfortable with the prospect of sneaking into my house, and if it wasn’t for the strange shit I saw before waking up, I would agree. My gaze held firm, encouraging him to come with me. 

“Look Stephanie…” He paused, looking away before slowly meeting my gaze. Before we can even risk thinking about going there you have to be absolutely-” 

“I’m positive, Isaac.” I gulped, “I need to talk to Danny, he’s not gonna turn you in. Hell, he was part of the group that broke you out of prison. We’ll be safe.” 

While he still didn’t look terribly convinced, I could feel his resolve shake, crumbling completely when I looked up at him behind my lashes. Huh...not sure how I feel about knowing that.

“Okay, fine, but the second something seems off, we leave.” I nodded quickly, not really sure what his definition of ‘off’ was given what was happening, but not quite ready to face my brother alone. “Also, I uh...I kinda biked here? But you could ride on the handlebars or something.”

Before I could stop myself, I laughed slightly, making me look at him strangely.

“What is it?” he turned around, his eyes scanning my face. “What’s so funny?” 

“That you biked here, I guess? I don’t know what I expected you to do, I know you don’t have a car…” I shook my head, “Also I may be a bit too tall to sit on the handlebars, do you have pegs on the back wheel?” 

He nodded, and I relaxed, making my way with him to where he’d left his ‘vehicle’. It was a little awkward getting onto the back and holding onto him without toppling either of us over, but we managed, and soon we were off. After we picked up speed, we made it to my house in about an hour. Since we were passing it anyway, we decided to sneak into Isaac’s place first. He didn’t take long, just filled a small duffel with whatever was sentimental or needed to be returned to the school. I was slightly confused by this, but then he explained that Derek bought some stuff while I was unconscious to help us. Meaning, he also had no idea or plan on what to do with the two teenage fugitives he has. He must be having a great day not knowing where we were or doing. 

While considerate in concept, I wanted to be back in my own bed, with my own things, but at the same time, I was still angry and confused by what my family was doing to me. I knew he’s going to try to keep me there, part of why I almost let Isaac talk me out of it. Almost. 

Not that I got much of a chance to think about it as we were already rolling up and things were strange. It was about 10:30 or so in the morning, on a Wednesday? Or was it Thursday? The days were starting to blur with each mind-numbing new thing I discovered. Point is, My mother’s car was nowhere to be seen, and Danny was home. While the second wasn’t surprising, It had been a week since I saw my mother, and now I was starting to get worried. 

We stopped at the edge of the yard, dismounting next to the mailbox. While Isaac worked on the kickstand, I kept my eyes on the road, hugging myself awkwardly while I shifted from foot to foot. I know this was my idea, but that didn’t mean I knew what I was doing or was remotely prepared for what was about to happen. It felt like forever stretched forward as I stood there, trying to think about what to do, the only thing missing the record scratch when the front door slammed open.

“Are we gonna do this, or are you two idiots going to wait for someone to call the cops on you?” 

Danny looked tired, his usually bright and easy smile gone and his eyes lacked their usually mirth. He wasn’t angry, but he wasn’t being gentle about things either. Coughing lightly, gestured for Isaac to follow me, wishing that the first time he stepped into my home after all these years wasn’t so he could witness the McGrath Siblings about to have a screaming match. 

He slowly closed the door behind us, gesturing for us to sit at the couch. There were two tv trays set up, each holding a steaming plate of breakfast and a mug with tea steeping. Isaac looked at me, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“You’ve been expecting us?” I gestured to the food. “How’d you even know we were going to be here?” 

“Derek.” My brother shrugged, glancing at Isaac. “Said something about this one failing to do his job after giving you the Bite.” 

Chills ran cold down my spine at the comment. Derek had been willing to help, but then turned around and sold me out? I thought about things that led me to this, about the feelings I’ve been getting that I’ve shrugged away. The fact that Derek and Danny seemed to know each other better than two people working together to break their wards out of jail. And worse, how quick I was to accept Danny’s explanations until now. Then it clicked.

“And you knew it wouldn’t kill me...Didn’t you?” I said, parsing it aloud. “Because we’re already involved somehow...” 

“You might want to take a seat.” He attempted to offer calmly, but his face pinched into a wince. “We have a lot to talk about.” 

“No!” I shook my head, the elastic of my patience finally snapping. 

“No, I’m done listening to you! I am so tired of being lied to, and being told that I’m just tired, or imagining things, you knew, you knew that I wasn’t seeing things, that I actually saw you nearly die and you just brushed it off, with stupid excuses. Excuses that you got me to believe using- Using what some supernatural tricks on me to make me forget?! What the hell Danny? Of all the people in my life, you were supposed to be the one that was always on my side, my brother. And now you’re sneaking around with Derek to try and control me again. To try and keep me in the dark, again. I-”

My voice broke, but I stood my ground, trying to hide the fact that I was shaking, both in anger and from the betrayal. My lip quivered, and my eyes tightened, making me bite the inside of my cheek, refusing to let him see me cry over this. I needed to prove to him that I could handle it, that I deserved to know. 

“Your poker face is great, but thanks to what we are, I know this scares you.” Danny stated calmly, his body seeming to bend with each word. “And if you insist on keeping all this up, I’m gonna have to teach you guys some mental wards.” 

“Cute, still waiting to hear what that is.” I snapped, crossing my arms as I watched him sit. “And I’m sorry, mental wards? What are we, Psychics or some shit? ” I laughed clearly thinking he was joking at this point. “And what, that this whole time you and Ma have been able to read my mind?” 

“Among other things, yeah.” His face was completely calm, no hit of laughter in his voice. “Ma more than me, but I inherited some of it...it’s what saved our asses that night at the preserve.” 

“Oh, so we’ve given up on denying that happened, then?” I spit, part of me wishing on some level that it hasn’t been real. “Good, because after I found myself there again, I would like to know why I could feel so much more of the world around me, or when I touched Isaac I was able to-” 

I stopped, still unsure if that’s what happened. That what? I was able to see things with a wolf’s vision? Or share his senses with him? And what about my ability to read emotions off of people? Off Animals? I slowly sank onto the couch next to Isaac, who had been silent up to this point. What exactly was I capable of now?

Danny gazed at me, sighing as he rubbed at his forehead. “Yeah, looks like those pills Ma got from Deaton aren’t going to work anymore. The bite must have removed their effect from your system. I was already having issues controlling your mind, but now….now there’s no point.” 

“Control?” Isaac’s voice made me jump, his face contorted into a snarl. “She’s your sister, why would you want to control her?” 

“Because a long time ago my parents decided that we needed to shelter her from this part of our lives.” Danny answered, keeping his gaze fixed on me. “I’ve had no choice but to do as I was told, but now that she’s older… It’s not something that either of you can understand. There’s too much at work than just me.”

“Then help me understand!” I insisted, slapping my hands onto my knees and clenching them. “Stop talking in riddles and just spit it out already Dan.” 

Dan looked at me, then glanced over to Isaac, who I felt fidget under his stare. There was something intense about his gaze, a coldness that I felt deep inside. As I felt Isaac move to stand, I placed a hand on his knee, glaring at my brother. 

“And stop trying to make Isaac leave.” I said, my hand shaking against him. “If he’s the catalyst to all of this, he deserves to know too.” 

We stared at each other, both challenging the other to blink while Isaac didn’t seem sure of what to do. I wished I could tell him that just having him here with me was what made me able to do this, and was helping me keep my resolve. While Danny and I kept up our staring contest though, I felt his hand on mine. He knew, and he wasn’t going anywhere. Finally, after far too long, Danny nodded, blinking slowly. 

“I guess there’s nothing left to do at this point.” He muttered, dragging a hand over his mouth. “So, obviously, you know about werewolves, right? And the hunters that are after them.” 

“Are you telling me there’s more?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Is there some kind of support group for various supernatural beings?” 

“Hardly, but yes, there’s plenty more than just werewolves. They’re just more common around these parts.” While Danny’s voice was calm, I watched him start to burn a hole in the sight of mine and Isaac’s hands, making the other boy cough awkwardly and move away from me slightly. Danny sniffed slightly, the smallest of smirks turning at the corner of his mouth. 

“Dad’s gonna kill me for telling you; he wanted to be here to tell you himself, but work pulled him away and with Mom out of commission, or at least I’m guessing-” 

Dan, they aren’t here; you are. I need to know.” I begged, gulping down the swell of emotion. “Please.” 

“Dad and I...we’re werewolves, like Derek. Unlike Isaac over here, we weren’t bitten, but born, coming from a long line that served the Hale family for years. You and Mom however…you’re different, and like I said, I inherited some of it, but not much.” 

“Different how?” I turned as Isaac spoke my thoughts, furrowing his brow slightly. “If I’m allowed to ask that is…” 

“You are...” Danny said, making me look at him. “Especially given that it’s not just you asking.” 

“What are you saying that I made him say that?” I pointed to myself, incredulously. 

“Not intentionally, but yes. You’re going to do some things accidentally until you get a grasp on it.” He ran his hands up his face, pulling them to rest on the back of his neck. “It’s part of the reason mom had you on the meds.” 

“Because I could control people?” I scoffed. “Like some kind of mental puppeteer or something?” 

“The formal term in Empath, but yes.” His eyes were closed, regret spreading it’s tendrils around his shoulders in a vice. “You’re able to control emotions and thought. Other things as well, like use a specific emotion to do things, empower you to do something you might not normally be able to do.” 

“Like the prison.” Isaac said, making us both turn to look at him. “You pushed Stiles away from me when I went to attack him. I felt this directed beam of...protectiveness coming from you. From your hand when you reached out to him.” 

“That’s an example of it, yes.” Danny nodded slowly, pulling his lips in a rye smile. “You always had that protective streak. Seems to be something written in our blood.” 

“So an Empath and a Werewolf… our parents?” I said, still trying to believe it, “So we’re what...hybrids of some kind?” 

“No, we each take after one parent, but we can have some carry over from the other. It’s how I could….alter your opinions on things, or make you forget. But now that you’ve fully come into your powers? I won’t be able to calm you like that again.” 

“Calm me? Calm me?!” I stood, stalking over to him as he remained sitting. “You made me believe I was insane. That seeing you get attacked was just some kind of fever dream! Why didn’t you just tell me what was going on?!” 

“And why did you call Megan last night instead of me?” He challenged, raising an eyebrow briefly. “You’re lucky I was able to send her away before you two got here.” 

“Call Me-what are you talking about?” I pulled my phone out, my eyes widening at the number of texts and missed calls from her. “I don’t remember doing that.” 

“Yeah, that happens, I’m sure it’ll come back eventually.” He nodded, as if accepting my answer. “Not that You can tell her about any of this.” 

“No shit, Sherlock.” I snapped, crossing my arms. “I don’t need my best friend escorting me to Ma’s work, thank you. Where is she anyway?” 

“I’m not sure, but given what you did last night, my guess is that they’re holding her at work for a while.” He bit the inside of his cheek briefly. “I’m gonna have to call Dad and figure out where to go from here. They were afraid something like this was going to happen.” 

“Why would they be keeping her at work because of me?” I asked, sharing a look of confusion with Isaac, who still seemed rather uncomfortable being here. 

“I know you want the answer to everything, Steph, and I swear, I want to give it to you.” My brother’s voice was tired now, weary with everything. I wanted to push him, but I let him finish at his own pace. 

“But there’s just some that aren’t mine to give. All I can say is that Mom… she did something years ago that tied her empathic abilities to her body in ways that are devastating. It’s why she’s been at Eichen for so long.” 

I gulped, every bad thing I said about my mother leaving a bad taste in my mouth. “You mean to tell me she’s not just working there, but-” 

“She does treatments after her shifts…” Danny nodded, “And unfortunately that’s all I can tell you, it’s not my-” 

“Place to tell, yeah...I get it.” I slowly took a few steps back, settling slowly back onto the couch. “But thank you...for telling me what you did, I guess. Wish I hadn’t had to twist it out of you, but we’re here now.” 

“Trust me, I’m not the one that wants you in the dark.” He sighed. “Especially with all the activity that’s been happening lately.” 

“Sure didn’t seem to upset you too much the past couple of weeks.” I grit out, staring at the food that was slowly growing cold. “So what was your plan, wait for me to show up, ply me with food?” 

“Actually I snuck a sedative in your tea hoping you’d be too hungry to notice.” He said, his expression blank. “You didn’t think I was just going to let you run away with Derek Hale and your little boyfriend, did you? That there wasn’t going to be consequences to your actions?” 

My mouth fell open, my mind already knowing somehow that he was telling the truth. I looked to Isaac, his shock written just as plainly on his face. Well, at least I know that they didn’t conspire with him. Derek however? I wouldn’t put it past him, especially now that I had some information on their background. 

“I’m sorry, so not only did you admit to Mom drugging me for years...but you-” I pointed at the tea in contempt. “My big brother, my protector, were about to do the same damn thing?!” 

“Like I said...consequences.” He shrugged, seeming unperturbed by my reaction, or even his choice of action. “At least I wasn’t going to drug him on top of it. Ma would have done that.” 

“Hardly a winning argument, Dan.” I said, turning to Isaac. “I think it’s time you went back to Derek. I have a feeling he won’t be expecting me.” 

“I...a-are you sure you want to stay here?” He glanced at my brother nervously, “Wouldn’t you be better off with us?” 

“With you?” Danny scoffed, “In some substation instead of at home with her family?”

“You don’t exactly seem to have her best interests in mind.” Isaac titled his head, actually daring to look my brother in the eye. “So all things considered, yes. I think she would be better off. At least we aren’t hiding things from her or trying to sedate her.” 

“No, you’ve only just re-entered her life and in the week she’s interacted with you, she’s been arrested, broken out, and bitten by an Alpha.” Danny squinted, the power of his glance making the other boy shrink away. “Yeah, that’s so much better than what I was doing when I nearly died to protect her, and then made it so she didn’t remember witnessing it.” 

“Stop it! Both of you!” I stood between the two, exhausted by the events of the day. “Isaac, I’ll be fine, I promise, just...let me get you a couple things- and no, Danny, me offering him help isn’t an option.” 

I stalked off to my room, Isaac sputtering under my brother’s gaze for a few seconds before following me. We were silent as I grabbed a bag and started to put things into it; a fluffy blanket, some toiletries, anything I could think of that Derek more than likely had it. I wasn’t looking forward to sending him alone to face the Alpha, but at this point I knew I had no option. I stopped packing, my hand freezing as I stood in front of bed, panic becoming a familiar burning in the pit of my stomach. There was a lot that could be said, and nothing he’ll be able to show for it. Just the pathetic excuse of being new and out of control. After a few moments of not moving, Isaac spoke up, making me jump at the sudden break of silence. 

“Hey…” I turned, meeting his gaze slowly, making him hesitate slightly and clear his throat. “I uh….I just wanted to let you know that….even if you’re not at the station with us, we’re here for you...and we-” He sighed as he struggled with what to say, “We’ll help you to figure everything out, I mean I know that I’m still learning too, but…” 

He trailed off when my expression remained, blank and he moved to touch a hand to my shoulder. Before his hand even reached me though, I felt myself tense up and he pulled away. It was so strange to me that mere moments ago we had been comforting each other via our hands, and now I was back to being afraid of him.. I sighed, my shoulders slumping with the weight of the day. Looking back to him, I tried to bring an encouraging smile to my lips, though it even felt more like a grimace. He’d just stood up to me against my brother, I had to say something to show my appreciation, but I was coming up blank.

We stood quietly for a few more minutes, and Isaac gave me a look as if he could see through me. Or maybe he just was wondering why I still hadn’t closed the bag or handed it to him. Either way I needed to tell him what was on my mind; I owed him that much at least. I sighed, tugging at my hair. 

“But maybe….” I paused, self-doubt threatening to silence me. “Maybe Danny’s right... I did think this through. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken the Bite...whatever my reasons were.” 

“You had more than one?” He shook his head, combing his hair back and rubbing a hand against the top of his head. “Look it doesn’t matter….we’ll just talk to Derek and- and maybe he’ll have some answers.” 

As skeptical as I felt about trusting Derek with anything still, I nodded, zipping the bag and handing it to him. “Yeah, well I could stand to ask him a few questions myself.” 

He laughed lightly, “Heh… you mean like selling you out to your brother?” 

“For starters.” I nodded, biting my lip. “Among other things…” 

“Then let’s ask him.” I looked up from the ground, raising an eyebrow at him. “I mean we might as well let him know we weren’t arrested or anything...it might help to explain you not coming back as well…” 

I glanced at the door, then to Isaac, holding up a finger, I walked over and closed it, stuffing my bathrobe along the bottom so that Danny couldn’t eavesdrop. Though if he really is a werewolf then it’s not really going to do anything, is it? Turning back to him, I nodded. 

“Why not...better dial before I change my mind.” I crossed my arms. “Lot of that is happening today.” 

Isaac nodded, and hit the contact, the phone merely ringing once before Derek picked up. While I couldn’t see his face, I could feel him through the phone, and was far from being happy or calm. Reminding myself that he wasn’t anywhere near us, I squared my shoulders, prepared to be told off for my disappearing act. Instead, I could only listen in shock as he rounded on Isaac instead, his voice so loud we didn’t need it on speaker. 

“One thing Isaac. I gave you one thing to do after we got back last night: Watch over her and make sure everything went fine with her Bite. And what do I find when I come back from picking up Erica today?! Both of you gone, and Danny confirms that you decided to go pay him a visit. What next are you going to tell me you went back to your house too?.” I winced slightly, letting out a hiss of breath. 

“Apparently because you did! How-” He snarled, trying to clamp down his anger. “How hard is it to keep a girl who is half your size down here?! What could have possibly-” 

Finally, I’d had enough, and pulled the phone from his hand, holding my hand out to stop Isaac from saying anything. 

“Okay first of all, I’m not half his size.” I argued, failing to see the importance of that myself. “And second, he was just helping me with my first change, and ya know, not ratting me out to my family that I purposely didn’t go home with.” 

“Hardly relevant, McGrath.” Derek quipped, his tone tense at the accusation. “He still should have been able to keep you under control.” 

“Says the man who placed his beta in charge of another.” I argued, shaking my head at the ridiculousness of this conversation. “I pass out, and you guys decide to go on a shopping spree? You’re lucky I was still there when you got back. Don’t get pissed of at Isaac because of your stupid ideas.” 

I heard him breathe through his nose, but I wasn’t done. 

“When I woke up scared and alone in the reserve this morning, Isaac was the one that found me, and Isaac was the one who helped me figure things out. He didn’t even want me to go see Danny, even though you did. Isaac is the only one that has consistently been on my side since this whole thing started.”

I gulped, “And now I’m forced to face the fact that you sold me out, and that I might have put my mother in the hospital… maybe even given her some kind of psychological break, I don’t know, Danny’s being pretty vague about it. So maybe just, stow the ego for five seconds and think about the consequences of your own actions.” 

After I had finished, there was silence on the other end, no sound save for his breathing. I was just about to dumbly add that I was done when he spoke up, his voice seething. 

“Need I remind you that you are both fugitives ? What if someone found you, what if a neighbor calls the police?! What were you thinking going off like that?!” 

I felt a flush of raage come over me when he mentioned these things. He was the dumbass that told my brother I would be coming! He was the one that made it seem like it was perfectly fine to lock me in my room as if I’d just run away from home and not been arrested! 

“I wasn’t thinking, that’s the whole damn point!” I clenched my fist, taking to pacing my room, Isaac shuffling awkwardly to stay out of my way. “My instincts or whatever took over and I ended up sleepwalking or some shit, to the place that started all this nightmarish shit for me!” I backed off, the anger gone once I met Isaac’s shocked gaze. “So may-maybe you should try to pay attention to your newly turned betas and not put them in charge of each other...then you’ll understand what they’ll become.” 

Derek’s voice stayed stern, his words cutting through me in a much smaller monologue than I just gave him. “Or maybe I shouldn’t have Bitten you at all.” 

I shrugged, not caring that he couldn’t see me. “Yeah....yeah, there is that...But you already did. So be an alpha about it, and take some responsibility.” 

And without hesitation, I hung up on him, tossing the phone onto my bed. If it hadn’t been Isaac’s I might have thrown it into the wall. Rubbed at my forehead before going to my door and opening it, seeing Danny standing there with his hand aloft. Not sparing him a glance I looked to Isaac. 

“Now that I’ve made things worse, you should probably get going.” I said, rubbing my arm awkwardly. “Let me know when you get there? Assuming Derek doesn’t beat you for my insolence?” 

Isaac blinked a couple of times, unsure of how to process what just happened. Grabbing his phone and shouldering his now second duffel. He nodded, making his way to the door. He stopped in front of me, looking like he was going to say something, but thought better of it, and quietly slipped past Danny. I waited to hear him walk through the living room and through the front door before grabbing my own and slamming in Danny’s face.

He wants to talk about consequences? Fine. I’m not the only one who has to face them.


End file.
